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 Vintage2010 Label 1 of 93 
TypeRed
ProducerChâteau de la Rivière (web)
VarietyRed Bordeaux Blend
Designationn/a
Vineyardn/a
CountryFrance
RegionBordeaux
SubRegionLibournais
AppellationFronsac
UPC Code(s)3523150120109, 714153151907

Drinking Windows and Values
Drinking window: Drink between 2018 and 2024 (based on 8 user opinions)

Community Tasting History

Community Tasting Notes (average 89.4 pts. and median of 90 pts. in 27 notes) - hiding notes with no text

 Tasted by derekjohn on 9/13/2023 & rated 90 points: Still dark plum-purple red - no ageing.
Lovely floral perfumed nose: violets/bluebells/hyacinths, underlain by a delicate meatiness (eg fresh butchered lamb).
Medium body, still some tannin but softening, floral, tobacco juice some acidity.
Good length.
Better with food. (617 views)
 Tasted by Grochol on 5/21/2023 & rated 90 points: Nose: black currant, blackberry, smoke, coffee, licorice, leather
Taste: full bodied, high tannins, medium+ acidity, black currant, prune, chokeberry, dark chocolate, salty notes, leather, green bell pepper, black pepper, quite long tanninic finish, big structure, sapid, ripe, dry and a bit rustic in a good way (696 views)
 Tasted by Sangria814 on 4/17/2022 & rated 93 points: Smooth and dry. Easy to drink. Delicious. (1196 views)
 Tasted by platpeeps on 1/25/2022 & rated 86 points: Classic Merlot flavours of plums and leather, and despite the weight of alcohol there was still some freshness and perceptible tannins. The initial flavours were savoury then a ripeness and sweetness of fruit kicked in to produce a finish of reasonable length. CHP 86 pts (1316 views)
 Tasted by mike410 on 1/29/2021 & rated 90 points: I wish I would have waited another 3 years. Very good wine, but still too tannic. Needs time. (1895 views)
 Tasted by TS on 1/1/2021 & rated 91 points: Consistent with previous note, with a slightly higher score. (1594 views)
 Tasted by TS on 9/6/2020 & rated 90 points: MG-Nice wine. Need more time to resolve the tannins. (1706 views)
 Tasted by F350 Super duty on 5/10/2020: Still needs more aging time at least another 2-3 years, decanted for about 4hrs. Notes of plum, menthol, floral. This is a really nice wine. Full bodied, plum, earthy, cocoa, raspberry. Still a little young. (1535 views)
 Tasted by broth on 1/11/2020 & rated 91 points: Enjoyed with a great steak. Drinking well right now but still has some life left in it. (1549 views)
 Tasted by gingermop on 8/24/2018 & rated 88 points: Leather, blueberry pie and violets on the nose. Took a while to soften in the mouth -recommend decanting for a couple of hours. Lovely jammy fruit with a hint of a more acidic, tart edge on the finish. Well priced for the quality. (2013 views)
 Tasted by derekjohn on 8/6/2018 & rated 88 points: Gave to Ronelle & Kevin. Very good, great nose, full-bodied. (1952 views)
 Tasted by macsat on 7/28/2018 & rated 90 points: This is a lot of wine for the price (Appx 22 eur). Really nice, full and soft tannins. Well integrated. Good to know that I have plenty in the cellar. (1709 views)
 Tasted by FransS on 11/29/2016 & rated 87 points: Well made, has style, but is a bit severe and the tannins are quite noticeable; needs, I hope, still some time to soften. (2702 views)
 Tasted by jskuek on 5/28/2016 & rated 91 points: Sat tasting at Nam Lee Cheong - with some air, this wine has turned into med+ body and long finishing. (2843 views)
 Tasted by Charlemagnefinewines on 7/22/2015 & rated 89 points: To me, this wine has a juiciness and freshness to it that we don't often find. The wine did so much better after an hour in a decanter and decent glasses. A lovely cedar note with dark cassis, some spice, and licorice. 2010 was a fantastic Bordeaux year, this wine merits the gold medal it won at the Bruxelles agricultural show. This is a wine meant for drinking with good food, and for the price it has a lovely Bordeaux style, lots of elegance while quite opulent at the same time. (2855 views)
 Tasted by vespasian on 4/4/2011 & rated 89 points: More sauvage and animal on the nose alongside the ripe fruit; lighter format but nice flavours and good grip. Quite tannic on finish. 87-90 (4040 views)
 Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine...

Professional 'Channels'
By Chris Kissack
Winedoctor, July 2012 (7/1/2012)
(Château de la Rivière Fronsac Red) Subscribe to see review text.
By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (4/3/2011)
(Ch de la Rivière Fronsac Red) Subscribe to see review text.
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Winedoctor and JancisRobinson.com. (manage subscription channels)

CellarTracker Wiki Articles (login to edit | view all articles)

Château de la Rivière

producer website - Read more about Chateau La Riviere

Red Bordeaux Blend

Red Bordeaux is generally made from a blend of grapes. Permitted grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and rarely Carménère.Today Carménère is rarely used, with Château Clerc Milon, a fifth growth Bordeaux, being one of the few to still retain Carménère vines. As of July 2019, Bordeaux wineries authorized the use of four new red grapes to combat temperature increases in Bordeaux. These newly approved grapes are Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Castets, and Arinarnoa.

Wineries all over the world aspire to making wines in a Bordeaux style. In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify wines made in this way. Although most Meritage wines come from California, there are members of the Meritage Association in 18 states and five other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Israel, and Mexico.

France

Vins de France (Office National Interprofessionnel des Vins ) | Pages Vins, Directory of French Winegrowers | French Wine (Wikipedia)

Wine Scholar Guild vintage ratings

2018 vintage: "marked by a wet spring, a superb summer and a good harvest"
2019 vintage reports
2021: "From a general standpoint, whether for white, rosé or red wines, 2021 is a year marked by quality in the Rhône Valley Vineyards. Structured, elegant, fresh and fruity will be the main keywords for this new vintage."
2022 harvest: idealwine.info | wine-searcher.com

Bordeaux

Bordeaux Wine Guide

Vins Bordeaux (Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux)

History of Bordeaux

History of 1855 Bordeaux Classification

"2009 is all about ripeness, with wines impressively packed with ripe fruit and high alcohol levels. They are showy, in-your-face, and full of pleasure. The 2010s have the fruit and alcohol levels of the 2009s, but with a compelling freshness on the finish that balances the fruit and provides a perfect sense of structure." - Ben Nelson

"2016 is a landmark vintage in certain spots of Bordeaux and it should be remembered as one of the most inspired campaigns of the last 40-50+ years." -Jon Rimmerman
"The quality of red Bordeaux in 2016 was universally lauded – although the response to the en primeur campaign was muted. Quantity was high too, with the equivalent of 770 million bottles of wine produced. An exceptionally dry summer with cool nights eventually, thanks to mid September rain, resulted in small, thick-skinned, ripe grapes, and the wines are marked by high tannin and acidity, with superb aromatic fragrance." - Jancis Robinson

"2017 was complicated, but there are some excellent wines. Expect plenty of freshness and drinkability from wines that will offer excellent value, and others that will rival 2016 in terms of ripeness and ageability. But they are likely to be the exception not the rule, making careful selection key." - Jane Anson

"In the past, a vintage such as 2022 may have been overripe, raisined and low in acidity but 2022 had a sneaky little reservoir in its back pocket - a near perfect marriage of cool/cold/rain the previous winter and the previous vintage that literally soaked the soils (a key to why 2022 is not 2003...or 1893)." - Jon Rimmerman

Libournais

Libournais (Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux) - Read more about St. Emilion and its wines - Read more about Pomerol and its wines

Saint Emilion Grat Classified Growth, Classified Growths, Grands Crus Classes, GCC

In 1954, while the "Graves" growths had just published their own classification, the wine syndicate of Saint-Emilion, composed by wine growers, brokers and wine traders with the approval of the INAO - Institut National des Appellations d'Origine (A.O.C), decided to work on a classification for the wines of Saint Emilion. Initially, four grades were defined. These were reduced to two - First Great Classified Growth (A and B) and Great Classified Growth - in 1984.

As of Medoc's 1855 historical grading, the Saint-Emilion Great Classified Growth classification is not only based on qualitative criteria by tasting the wines on a ten years period previous to the assessment, but also on commercial considerations such as:
- sales price levels
- national and international commercial distribution
- the estate's reputation on the market

Properties who don't manage to join the club of about sixty Classified Growths are given the denomination of Great Growth ("Grand Cru"), while the remaining wineries of the A.O.C are simply reported as "Saint-Emilion". It is to be noted that the owners must officially apply to appear in the official classification. Thus for example the famous Chateau Tertre-Roteboeuf, whose quality and reputation would easily justify to be listed among the First Great Classified Growths, does not appear here by the will of its owner, François Mitjaville.

The Saint-Emilion Great Growth classification was revised in 1969, 1985, 1996 and 2006. The only two guaranteed vintage (A.O.C) who can apply to the classification are the "Saint-Emilion Grand Cru" and "Saint-Emilion" areas.

By grading 61 properties, the 2006 revision confirmed many growths from the former classification, but also caused a number of surprises and a few inevitable disappointments. Many observers thought that the impressive progression of Perse's Chateau Pavie since 1998 would be rewarded by an upgrade into the First Great Classified Growths (A) category, but finally such was not the case.

Among the estates promoted to the First Great Classified Growths B category are Chateau Troplong-Mondot and Pavie-Macquin, whose efforts made since the Nineties fully justify their new grade. It should be noted that no First Great Classified Growth was relegated to the lower Great Classified Growth class.

Promoted growths from the status of Great Growth ("Grand Cru") to Great Classified Growth ("Grand Cru Classe") are: Chateaux Bellefont-Belcier, Destieux, Fleur Cardinale, Grand Corbin, Grand Corbin-Despagne and Monbousquet.

The demoted growths from the status of Great Classified Growth to Great Growth are: Chateaux Bellevue, Cadet Bon, Faurie de Souchard, Guadet Saint-Julien, La Tour du Pin-Figeac (Belivier), La Tour du Pin-Figeac (Moueix), Lamarzelle, Petite Faurie de Soutard, Tertre Daugay, Villemaurine and Yon-Figeac. If the recent samples of some of the above mentioned properties may justify their current downgrade, there are great chances that estates like Bellevue, Tertre Daugay or Yon-Figeac will be upgraded to their previous rankings by the next revision in 2016 as the progresses noted after 2000, but not entering in the range of vintages (1993 - 2002) appointed for the criteria of selection for the 2006 classification, are noticable.

The two following estates have completely disappeared from the Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classification: Curé-Bon-la-Madeleine (integrated meanwhile to Chateau Canon) and La Clusière (integrated meanwhile to Chateau Pavie).

Finally, no estate considered as "garagiste" has integrated the classification. Valandraud, Mondotte, Le Dome, Bellevue-Mondotte or Magrez-Fombrauge have, for the least, the potential to be ranked as Great Classified Growths. In sight of the very fine quality reached by the above mentioned estates in recent vintages as well as all the innovative wine making methods used by the "garagistes", it remains to be seen whether the authorities will dare to cross the line in 2016..?

Fronsac

Vins Fronsac (Conseil des Vins de Fronsac)

Read more about Fronsac

Fronsac AOC Wikipedia Article

 
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