Le Pin 2010 (750ML)

100 WA / 100 RP / 100 JS / 99 WS / 98 DE

The 2010 Le Pin is made from 100% Merlot. Deep garnet in color, it bursts from the glass with unbridled, hedonic notions of baked plums, Black Forest cake, Chinese five spice and blueberry pie plus wafts of smoked meats, candied violets, dark chocolate and cigar box. Medium-bodied, the palate exudes slow maturing black and blue berry layers, framed by firm, oh-so-plush tannins and oodles of freshness, finishing with incredible length and depth. Already drop dead gorgeous, this beautiful baby has a very long life ahead! - LPB, Wine Advocate, March 2010

Made from 100% Merlot (one percent for each rating point I’ve assigned), this wine is explosively rich and compelling. Dense plum/purple, it boasts the remarkable delineation and freshness that are hallmarks of this vintage. From a much smaller production than normal because of Merlot’s poor flowering, the very hot, dry growing and harvest conditions, this is a super-endowed, very rich Le Pin with its exotic new oak largely buried behind its extravagant concentration, power and richness. I don’t know what its natural alcohol level is, but I suspect it is pushing 15% in 2010. Rich, tannic, but exceptionally well-endowed, this is a sublime example of Merlot at its very finest. Forget it for 5-7 years (which is somewhat unusual for Le Pin) and drink it over the following three decades. - Robert Parker

Dreamlike deep nose with blackberries, graphite and some smoky notes. Opens with licorice, vanilla and red fruit. Full and intensely fruity on the palate with lots of dark berries. Complex, dense and deeply structured with polished tannins and a great finish that just goes on and on. The balance is amazing. Even better than 2009. Drink from 2018. - James Suckling

A sleeping giant, with an immense core of pure raspberry and kirsch fruit surrounded by a gorgeous graphite frame. As large-scaled as it is, this remains remarkably lithe, with a black tea and allspice perfume gilding the finish. Caressing and almost approachable now, but there's so much density and definition here that it will be fun to watch this age over the next generation. Basically the '90, just dialed up to 11.--Non-blind Le Pin vertical (December 2015). Best from 2020 through 2040. 458 cases made.  - JM, Wine Spectator

Laden with pleasure, this showcases an exuberant side of 2010, where the seductive, languorous beauty of Le Pin fully proves its worth. The emphasis is on powerful spices, chocolate pod and coffee bean, zaatar and anis. Powerfully concentrated and still fairly closed, you can approach now but it will need longer to fully open up, and as is so often the case with Le Pin, there are various things happening at once, with the silky exuberance a pleasurable misdirection away from the serious levels of tannin and power. Drinking Window 2025 - 2050 - Jane Anson, Decanter, January 2020