The 2010 Bordeaux wines are bigger, more alcoholic and richer than ever before, according to one noted expert.

Will Lyons, writing in the Wall Street Journal, said that a very dry summer has helped to produce wines that are rich in concentration with high tannin levels.

Favourable weather conditions were complimented by improvements in viticulture techniques, such as reducing the yields of the vines and removing extra leaves, which improved the ripeness of the grapes.

When put together, Mr Lyons suggests, these components produces wines that are not easy to taste when young but will continue to improve for a very long time.

Paul Pontallier, director of Chateau Margaux, is said to have told the critic that 2010 Bordeaux is "a vintage that will age for a century".

Denis Dubourdieu, a consulting winemaker and director of the Institute of Vine and Wine Sciences at the University of Bordeaux, recently described 2010 Bordeaux as "liquid beauty".