This is a perfumed wine, dominated by Cabernet Franc. Black fruits are layered with wood, dry tannins and a beautiful aromatic quality. The wine is deep and complex, built for the long term with its power, density and considerable elegance.

80% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot combined to produce what's probably the wine with the highest percentage of Cabernet Franc from Bordeaux in the vintage. The wine reached reached 14.58% alcohol with a pH 3.8. A deep purple color leads into a licorice floral oak and spicy blackberry perfume plush textures and a finish that offers oak coco and black cherries. About 1000 cases were produced of this unique St. Emilion.

The 2010 Le Dome is a blend of 80% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot. Deep garnet colored, it opens with notions of kirsch, baked raspberries and mulberries with touches of oolong tea, cigar boxes and dried herbs. Full-bodied, it has firm, chewy tannins and a lively line defining the evolving dried berries and earthy layers, finishing on a stewed tea note. Already mature, drink it over the next 15-18 years.- LPB

A burly, extracted style, with lots of roasted apple wood and mesquite flavors leading the way, followed by briary grip and slightly chewy plum, blackberry and black currant fruit flavors. Shows more heft than cut and drive, featuring scads of tobacco, ganache and loam on the finish. If cellaring can tame the chewy edges, this will become an impressive, modern-styled wine down the road. Best from 2016 through 2030. – JM