Overview of the Vintage

Another year, another trip to Bordeaux and we are told another great vintage, it's all becoming a little monotonous! The beginning of April saw our annual trip to taste the new vintage in Bordeaux. The world wine trade descended on the medoc to taste and discuss the merits of the 2010 vintage. There was certainly not quite the hype which heralded the 2009's in fact there was almost a degree of embarrassment that after the vintage of the century we may have another equally good and, according to some chateau, an even better vintage with the 10's.

First and foremost this is a very different vintage to 2009, it is not as uniformly good in all appellations and it was not as charming or easy to taste from barrel. That said, the concentration,, freshness and balance in the best wines has meant some truly exceptional wines have been produced. In the broadest and most general terms while the 2009's have a similar character and profile to say the 82’s, 90’s and 2000’s , the 2010's are more along the lines of 1986 or 1996. The most successful appellations, in our view, were on the left bank with St Julien and Pauillac topping the charts although there were some fabulous wines produced on the other side of the river in Pomerol. Overall cabernet sauvignon seems to have been the most successful of the grape varieties and wine with a high concentration of this grape tended to be the most impressive.

Like 2009 the main climatic influence was a summer drought which was combined with cool temperatures in summer and autumn. This meant that the grapes were small and that the levels of sugar, acid and tannin were very concentrated. This has created, where successful, wines that have big structures, high acid levels but more than enough fruit to balance the overall package.  

So the big question is how will the chateaux owners price the 2010’s? With the 2009 vintage setting new records for release prices it seems unlikely that there will be any reduction in price from 09 levels. Equally it’s unprecedented to have two such successful vintages in a row and off the record chats with chateau owners suggest that they don’t quite know how to play their cards this year. What seems likely is that this will be another drawn out campaign with the top wines released in a series of small tranches in order to test the markets response. 

Please find below a list of Robert Parker's favourite wines of the vintage along with wines that we believes should offer the best value. If you would like to discuss any aspect of the vintage please do not hesitate to contact us.

Finally as with all great vintages there will a ‘bun fight’ as wines are released, if there are specific wines that you already know you would ilke please let us know and we will create wish lists on your behalf. To receive updates of all releases please sign up to our En primeur offers list above. We will also be updating this page frequently with wines that we are able to offer.