he 2010 Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrieres displays a touch more precision on the nose than the 2010 Les Gouttes d’Or, opening wonderfully in the glass. The palate displays impressive weight and girth in the mouth allied with fine tension and subtle notes of walnut and spice toward the solid finish.
W.S. 90 pts
A dark ruby color is accompanied by crisp acids, sweet cranberry, black cherry, and darker fruit aromas, and a clean, pure, classically built, medium weight Pauillac. Still firm and tannic, this medium-bodied, elegantly wrought wine.
Deep garnet in color, the 2010 Haut Bages Liberal is a bit subdued to begin, unfurling to offer glimpses at mature stewed plums and warm figs scents with touches of mossy tree bark, unsmoked cigars and truffles. Medium-bodied, the palate delivers lovely freshness and well-managed, approachable tannins, finishing on a mineral note.
A stunning success for the vintage, this enticing St.-Julien reveals notes of lead pencil shavings, sweet raspberries and black currants and a subtle touch of oak. Elegant, restrained yet authoritative and impressively intense, it is a medium to full-bodied, lightly tannic
Dense ruby/purple, with sweet, unsmoked cigar tobacco intermixed with graphite, black currants, cherries, and spice, it is medium to full-bodied, fleshy, beautifully textured, and long.
An absolutely sensational second wine from Haut-Brion, the 2005 Bahans Haut-Brion displays all the smoke, gravel and chocolate notes along with ripe black fruits. Broad, savory, rich and lush, this is a sensational wine (now called Le Clarence) with gorgeous texture and length.
The 2009 Branaire-Ducru has a medium to deep garnet color and reveals compelling notions of warm cassis, licorice, baked plums and hoisin with hints of sautéed herbs and pencil lead. Youthful and medium to full-bodied, it has a generous core of black fruits with a firm and grainy structure and bags of freshness, finishing long with great purity.
The wines possess plenty of botrytis, but neither the impressive definition nor supreme elegance of the 2001s. This is a sweet, full-bodied, fat, concentrated, intense effort.
A sensational wine from this Pessac-Leognan estate, the 2009 possesses notes of charcoal, graphite, roasted herbs, truffles, spice box, and luxurious quantities of black currant and black cherry fruit. Full-bodied, impressively endowed.