2010 Clos Les Lunelles

(80% merlot with 10% each cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon; this property was previously called Clos Les Lunelles): Bright, saturated medium ruby. Roasted ripeness to the aromas of kirsch, blackberry, chocolate and truffley oak. Plush, creamy and sweet, with very ripe flavors of black raspberry, milk chocolate and graphite. This big boy is downright velvety. Finishes with mouthdusting tannins but this is ultimately a very gentle style, probably best for drinking over the next six to eight years.

One of the bigger, more tannic and powerful wines of the vintage, although it is only 14.4% alcohol, which puts it well below some of the blockbusters in the Cotes de Castillon, this wine exhibits wonderfully pure black raspberry, black cherry and graphite notes intermixed with hints of cedar and licorice, in a medium to full-bodied, slightly softer and less extracted style than usual. This is another sleeper of the vintage that should drink nicely for up to a decade. The Perse family finally dropped the -Les- from the name of this estate, which should make it easier to remember. The 2010, a blend of 80% Merlot and the rest equal parts Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, was produced from absurdly low yields of 25 hectoliters per hectare.