Opened second half case. Best on the 3rd day. The bracing acidity of the previous bottles has rounded out to a closed structure hiding fruit. Very strange. Second day the fruit began to show, 3rd day things began to round out and the mouthfeel was a bit more supple. Dark cherry, black currants. Straightforward. As per my previous notes, I've had a frustrating experience with this wine. My thinking is that this is beginning to enter a new drinking window, but I'll give it another year. Really tired of fighting this one.
2nd Bottle out of 6 bought in 2012. First one didn’t impress that much and I had higher hopes for a cru bourgeois level St. Julien. This one however presents itself much better after a few more years in the cellar. Nice blackcurrant flavors with a few unresolved tannins and fair acidity in a medium weight body. Drank on its own. Could use a year or two more of further cellaring in order to be a good companion to food. Will never be a superstar, but hey, what can you expect for a 20 euro médoc from 2010?
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I'm sorry to say that: this was a real deception. In every perspective, this bottle was a very "simple wine"; perhaps and best on ordinary Bordeaux sup. level. Bought 3 bottles for 32€ each in 2022. If there was no huge bottle variation playing today, this is definitively a wine not to rebuy. St. Julien ? I have something else in mind ...
On the nose, black pepper with the oak nicely integrated. Some mild cotton candy and floral notes. Medium red fruit, spicy with complexity. On the palette, everything is nicely integrated. Juicy and so well balanced. Tannins are still a bit grippy but mostly in the background. The mid-palette is my favourite part. As it’s continuing to open up. Finish is medium. Very solid. Not outstanding but very good. I haven’t had many from Saint Julien but liking this one a lot. You get that feeling from this classic and balanced vintage. PNP and letting the rest decant, but this is my initial analysis.
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Servert blindt. Solbær, tobakk, fiken og kaffe på nese. Veldig stram i munnen med solbær, kaffe, moreller. Stramme tanniner, heftig grep, ganske lukket. Veldig bra lengde. 91. Mye opptur, men er jammen morsomt å drikke nå. Gir mye motstand, men man finner stadig nye detaljer. 91
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Immer noch sehr verschlossen, erscheint nach wie vor sehr jung mit noch langer Lagerfähigkeit(+5Jahre?). Öffnet sich langsam, am nächsten Tag dann mit einer schönen dunklen Frucht, kräftiger aber angenehmer Säure und guter Länge.
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This wine was extremely closed, austere, almost repellent at the beginning. No fruit whatsoever, at best some Liquorice. Strong reduction notes, at first I thought the bottle was flawed. However the cork looked like the wine was bottled yesterday.
After two hours of decanting, it started to open very timidly. After 3 hours the wine still improved, now started to show beautiful complex fruit and great length but no signs of aging, beside already nicely integrated tannins. A wonderful warm-year left-bank Bordeaux. And it continued to improve slightly.
I think it can be drunken now, but it will have a lot more to offer in a few years time. For a wine that, in 2018, needs 3 hours to start opening 2015-2020 drinking window is way to early in my opinion and 2018-2025 is more realistic, maybe even more. Not because it is so tannic, but because it is so reductive still.
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Good year, 2010. Bourdeaux wine with power. Dark berries, vanilla, oak, leather, with a spicey feel. Nice palete with a fruity attack in the start, firm tannins, complex with long aftertaste. Love this one!!
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Yes, this all very nice and good for a minor St Julien. Good mix of fruit and dust. Graphite and blackberry. Grippy tannins. No complexity as such. Medium. Very pleasing. Though overpriced by £5 at £25. Drink now I'd say. 89-90
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Weekly tasting group #200; Merlot dominated Bordeaux 2009 (@ RvD): Beautiful bouquet with red and dark forest fruits, herbs, oaky flavors and vanilla. The same impressions on the palate, some chocolate, a bit herbaceous, a touch of sweetness and also firm acidity, slightly sticky tannin and some bitterness. Improves in the glass with some more air. In the tasting group some preferred the 2009 above the 2010. And although I score the wines the same, I had a slight preference for the 2010. Give the wine a few more years of ageing. 88 - 89
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Tasted alongside the 2010 Peyrabon, which came out on top. This wine is very nice however. It shows all the dark berry fruit and minerality one might expect from the appellation and vintage. The wine puts its best foot forward on the attack and mid palate, but begins to drop off toward the back and finish. A great example of overcharging for the pleasure of a highly celebrated appellation IMO. On this night, the 2010 Haut-Médoc Peyrabon and the Listrac-Médoc Cap Léon Veyrin showed better.
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Medium bodied, soft, already approachable with its open, black cherry, earth, red plum, oak and tobacco profile. This is a nice example of a Left Bank value wine.
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1/27/2024 - classicalspin Likes this wine: 89 Points
Opened second half case. Best on the 3rd day. The bracing acidity of the previous bottles has rounded out to a closed structure hiding fruit. Very strange. Second day the fruit began to show, 3rd day things began to round out and the mouthfeel was a bit more supple. Dark cherry, black currants. Straightforward. As per my previous notes, I've had a frustrating experience with this wine. My thinking is that this is beginning to enter a new drinking window, but I'll give it another year. Really tired of fighting this one.
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12/16/2023 - Phylloxera63 Likes this wine: 89 Points
2nd Bottle out of 6 bought in 2012. First one didn’t impress that much and I had higher hopes for a cru bourgeois level St. Julien. This one however presents itself much better after a few more years in the cellar. Nice blackcurrant flavors with a few unresolved tannins and fair acidity in a medium weight body. Drank on its own. Could use a year or two more of further cellaring in order to be a good companion to food. Will never be a superstar, but hey, what can you expect for a 20 euro médoc from 2010?
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8/29/2023 - jour-et-nuit wrote:
I'm sorry to say that: this was a real deception. In every perspective, this bottle was a very "simple wine"; perhaps and best on ordinary Bordeaux sup. level. Bought 3 bottles for 32€ each in 2022. If there was no huge bottle variation playing today, this is definitively a wine not to rebuy. St. Julien ? I have something else in mind ...
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2/11/2023 - AudunG wrote: 89 Points
Floral aromas with blackcurrant, forest floor and and graphite. Quite powerful and structured, with well integrated oak. Good for the price.
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12/22/2022 - classicalspin wrote: 88 Points
Continues to disappoint. Underperforms. Eat something fatty with this, it will cut right through.
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10/7/2022 - winemanintheden Likes this wine: 91 Points
On the nose, black pepper with the oak nicely integrated. Some mild cotton candy and floral notes. Medium red fruit, spicy with complexity. On the palette, everything is nicely integrated. Juicy and so well balanced. Tannins are still a bit grippy but mostly in the background. The mid-palette is my favourite part. As it’s continuing to open up. Finish is medium. Very solid. Not outstanding but very good. I haven’t had many from Saint Julien but liking this one a lot. You get that feeling from this classic and balanced vintage. PNP and letting the rest decant, but this is my initial analysis.
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12/10/2021 - "Rhône Rider" Likes this wine: 91 Points
Servert blindt. Solbær, tobakk, fiken og kaffe på nese. Veldig stram i munnen med solbær, kaffe, moreller. Stramme tanniner, heftig grep, ganske lukket. Veldig bra lengde. 91. Mye opptur, men er jammen morsomt å drikke nå. Gir mye motstand, men man finner stadig nye detaljer. 91
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4/4/2021 - ghenneke-minas@web.de wrote: 92 Points
Sehr gut, bleibt eher elegant als opulent, toller Wein, schlanke Bordeaux muss man zu wissen.
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2/14/2021 - seg424 wrote:
Delicious. No doubt at peak. Decant and enjoy.
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12/24/2020 - dked2407 wrote: 88 Points
Agréable et subtil, pas très typé Saint-Julien.
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11/8/2020 - ghenneke-minas@web.de Likes this wine: 91 Points
Immer noch sehr verschlossen, erscheint nach wie vor sehr jung mit noch langer Lagerfähigkeit(+5Jahre?).
Öffnet sich langsam, am nächsten Tag dann mit einer schönen dunklen Frucht, kräftiger aber angenehmer Säure und guter Länge.
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7/25/2020 - dked2407 Likes this wine: 89 Points
Très bon, léger goût anisé.
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6/21/2019 - Steve Bird Does not like this wine: 86 Points
Perhaps past it’s prime, or maybe it never reached its prime. Astringent. Anise with isopropyl alcohol zing to it. Glad I only had one bottle.
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2/22/2018 - nhericks wrote: 91 Points
This wine was extremely closed, austere, almost repellent at the beginning. No fruit whatsoever, at best some Liquorice. Strong reduction notes, at first I thought the bottle was flawed. However the cork looked like the wine was bottled yesterday.
After two hours of decanting, it started to open very timidly. After 3 hours the wine still improved, now started to show beautiful complex fruit and great length but no signs of aging, beside already nicely integrated tannins. A wonderful warm-year left-bank Bordeaux. And it continued to improve slightly.
I think it can be drunken now, but it will have a lot more to offer in a few years time. For a wine that, in 2018, needs 3 hours to start opening 2015-2020 drinking window is way to early in my opinion and 2018-2025 is more realistic, maybe even more. Not because it is so tannic, but because it is so reductive still.
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11/18/2017 - oboeurenius wrote: 92 Points
Good year, 2010. Bourdeaux wine with power. Dark berries, vanilla, oak, leather, with a spicey feel. Nice palete with a fruity attack in the start, firm tannins, complex with long aftertaste. Love this one!!
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9/20/2016 - Rob-Rah Likes this wine: 89 Points
Yes, this all very nice and good for a minor St Julien. Good mix of fruit and dust. Graphite and blackberry. Grippy tannins. No complexity as such. Medium. Very pleasing. Though overpriced by £5 at £25. Drink now I'd say. 89-90
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1/18/2016 - Zweder wrote: 89 Points
Weekly tasting group #200; Merlot dominated Bordeaux 2009 (@ RvD): Beautiful bouquet with red and dark forest fruits, herbs, oaky flavors and vanilla. The same impressions on the palate, some chocolate, a bit herbaceous, a touch of sweetness and also firm acidity, slightly sticky tannin and some bitterness. Improves in the glass with some more air. In the tasting group some preferred the 2009 above the 2010. And although I score the wines the same, I had a slight preference for the 2010. Give the wine a few more years of ageing. 88 - 89
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7/14/2015 - jskuek wrote: 89 Points
Need at least one hour decant. Classic St Julien, toast, minerals. Keep for another 3 years.
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12/20/2014 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Green peppercorn and cherry fruit, broader on the palate then Jaugaret, powerful.
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3/18/2014 - Motz wrote: 90 Points
Tasted alongside the 2010 Peyrabon, which came out on top. This wine is very nice however. It shows all the dark berry fruit and minerality one might expect from the appellation and vintage. The wine puts its best foot forward on the attack and mid palate, but begins to drop off toward the back and finish. A great example of overcharging for the pleasure of a highly celebrated appellation IMO. On this night, the 2010 Haut-Médoc Peyrabon and the Listrac-Médoc Cap Léon Veyrin showed better.
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11/24/2013 - Jeff Leve wrote: 87 Points
Medium bodied, soft, already approachable with its open, black cherry, earth, red plum, oak and tobacco profile. This is a nice example of a Left Bank value wine.
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