2010 Château Cantemerle, Haut-Médoc, Bordeaux

Tasted blind

Mid garnet. Lifted, slightly leafy nose. Cassis and pencils. Lively and fresh, with chalky but fine tannins. More energy than many 2010s. Juicy and fresh.

Drink 2020 - 2028

Deep garnet-coloured, the 2010 Cantemerle offers notes of cassis, baked plums, and fragrant earth with hints of pencil shavings and bay leaves. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is chock-full of bright, juicy fruit with a lively backbone and a bit of chew to the finish.

Drink 2020 - 2038

Vivid nose: dark baked fruits, floral scents and oaky touches. Nice energy and lift from the start, acidity setting the pace. Well-integrated tannins and a slight mineral/metallic edge to the structure. Juicy and lively but with balance and gentle power. A lovely, fresh, easy-drinking Claret.

Drink 2024 - 2032

Ideal with a one-hour carafe.

Medium intensity, deep ruby in colour, delicious aromatics, still fairly reserved at this point. It's great quality with dark bramble fruit, a smudge of grilled cedar oak, and layers of liquorice root and tobacco leaf, but less generous and joyful than the 2009. 50% new oak. Bottled after a light fining but no filtering.

Drink 2024 - 2040

The 2010 Cantemerle is vigorous and open on the nose, a mixture of red and black fruit with cedar and humidor scents. I admire the focus and detail. The palate is rounded in texture on the entry. This is a plumper, richer, more fruit-driven 2010 with a lush finish in the context of the growing season. You could broach this now, although I would prefer to leave it another three or four years.This is another excellent wine and candidate for this vintage's most over-performing cru.

Drink 2022 - 2045

The wine needs a good 7-10 years of cellaring and should keep for 30 more years, but this is the finest Cantemerle I have encountered in my professional career of tasting young vintages dating back 34 years now). With its 2010, this classified growth located in the southern end of the Medoc may well have made a modern-day version of their legendary 1949.

Stunningly deep ruby/purple, with a beautiful nose of spring flowers intermixed with perfumed raspberry and blueberry notes, it exhibits a sort of cool-climate character. Broad, rich and intense on the palate, the wine has plenty of tannins, but they are sweet and well-integrated. Everything is delicately entwined into this beautiful, medium to full-bodied, dense purple wine, which shows stunning character and a prodigious potential for development. This is definitely a major sleeper of the vintage and even better than I thought from the barrel.

Drink 2020 - 2050

A wine with blueberry and mineral aromas follows through to a full body with fine tannins and a juicy finish. It is best for years from here. It needs at least three years of bottle age to soften. In the long run, it could be better than 2009.