Tasting Report: 2010 Bordeaux Barrel Tasting By Score

The tasting notes below are of barrel samples from close to 700 different 2010 Bordeaux wines . I blind tasted many of the wines at my hotel Les Sources de Caudalie in Martillac, Bordeaux. I also visited dozens of wineries and wine merchants to taste samples during my three-week trip in the region in late March.

The weather was perfect almost everyday for my tastings, with sunny skies and a high-pressure weather system. I have tasted Bordeaux barrel samples every year since the 1982 vintage, so it’s always interesting to compare young wines from a new harvest. I found the 2010s extremely easy to taste. Perhaps it was their fine tannin structures and intense acidities that made them so attractive and refreshing to review. I even found them more attractive to taste than the 2009s last year at that time.

The wines are scored in a two-point range. In the past, I was required to use a four-point range. I think narrowing the range should help everyone make better purchases of Bordeaux en primeur, or futures.

The 2010 vintage is a great one for Bordeaux. The reds are powerful, rich and structured with gorgeous fruit, ripe tannin and bright acidity. The dry whites, in some instances, are the best ever. Sauternes is very good but not exceptional

Below are the tasting notes sorted by score.