The most powerful wine in this vertical is the 2010 Léoville Las Cases, a full-bodied, deep and multidimensional behemoth redolent of rich berries, cassis, burning embers, pencil shavings and loamy soil. Broad-shouldered...

The 2010 Brane-Cantenac marked the first year that optical sorting was used and the replanting of a parcel of Petit Verdot. This has long been a favourite vintage, the nose in a class of its own with mineral-driven black...

Wonderful nose with loads of dark chocolate, plums and some coffee. Opens up with orange peel, leather and vanilla. Full and round on palate with beautiful fruit and sweet polished tannins. Long and gorgeous with a really...

The 2010 Château Pontet Canet is still beautiful, with a youthful sense of style in its darker currants, saddle leather, violets, graphite, and floral aromatics. These carry to a full-bodied, rich, concentrated, and...

From a château just across the street from Beychevelle, in the southern part of Saint-Julien, the 2010 Château Branaire-Ducru is largely Cabernet Sauvignon yet includes 24% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot...

High floral and gunsmoke aromatics, this is intense and concentrated. Where the 2009 has more immediately appeal, this 2010 is clearly going to deliver over the decades. Coiled and reserved tannins, a ton of texture and...

Toasted notes on the nose, remnants of oak and blackcurrant. Full and round. Plush, gently chewy fruit and powdery tannins give this a wider mouthfeel than some. Plenty of flavour and classic claret character, freshness...

Incense, cedar, blackcurrants, vanilla, rose and exotic sweet spices. Focused and forward, but compact and tight. Crushed-silk tannins give good support but do cover the lighter-fruit aspects and the acidity, making this...