Gruaud Larose 2010 (750ML)

96 JS / 95 WA / 95 WE / 94 JA / 93+ RP / 93 WS

Ripe raspberries and blueberries with hints of fresh flowers. Deep nose of dark fruits. Full body, with silky tannins and a beautifully integrated tannin structure. It's long and very refined. Better than 2009. Try in 2018. - James Suckling

Tasted blind at the Southwold Bordeaux 2010 tasting. This is a great showing from Gruaud Larose. It has a lovely bouquet with vibrant blackberry, wild hedgerow and cedar aromas that display fine vigour and intensity. The palate is medium-bodied with supple and ripe tannins, plenty of ripe tarry black fruit with a dense, tobacco-infused finish that is very focused and persistent. Excellent. Tasted January 2014. - Neal Martin, Wine Advocate

For anybody looking for classic Bordeaux, this is the bottle to seek. “Classic” here means a wine with a tannic structure that also relies on a black currant flavor, with acidity providing freshness but not losing any concentration or aging potential. Keep for many years. - RV, Wine Enthusiast

As with so many 2010s, this is barely out of the starting blocks even at 11 years old. Majoring on black chocolate shavings, espresso, cassis and bilberry fruits, powerful tannins with muscles but also juice, precision, all carefully chiselled to support the fruit. Extremely spicy, with black pepper and more exotic turmeric, showing that ripe Cabernet Sauvignon does a great job of delivering the spicy elements that Petit Verdot often brings. Eric Boissenot had arrived as consultant in 2006, so this was his 4th vintage. 50% new oak. Harvest September 28 to October 13. November 2021. Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

Dark garnet/plum/purple, with loads of spice, earth, underbrush, red and black currants, licorice, and even a hint of Provencal garrigue, this full-bodied, tannic, masculine style of St.-Julien needs 5-6 years of cellaring, but is full, beefy, rich and impressively endowed. There are plenty of firm tannins in the background of this blockbuster wine, which has been built for the long haul. This is one 2010 where patience will be required. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2040. - Robert Parker, Wine Advocate

This is distinctive, with an aromatic roasted alder wood streak leading the way, quickly followed by dense but sleek blackberry cobbler, currant paste and warm plum sauce notes. Well-polished through the finish, offering deeply embedded acidity. Best from 2015 through 2030. - James Molesworth, Wine Spectator