Critic Notes
This was phenomenal from barrel and remains so. The aromas are spellbinding. It smells like a bouquet of pink roses and then goes to currants, berries and citrus. Full body, with wonderfully refined tannins. It starts discretely and then grows to different levels and dimensions like a slow but big high tide. The texture is so beautiful. Try it in 2020 or beyond. jamessuckling.com
Score: 100-/100James Suckling
Superb colour, a lovely concentration of polished flavours that stay on the palate forever, unbelievable freshness and density, a truly great wine. Drink 2020-50. Steven Spurrier, decanter.com
Score: 20-/20Decanter
Margaux - A blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot and equal parts Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, the wine is defined in part because of the effective low yields. Only 38% of the harvest was included in the Grand Vin. The rest of the harvest was divided as follows. An equal portion of 38% went into Pavillon Rouge. The remaining wine was divided between their third and the new fourth wine. 210 marks what could be the lowest production ever recorded in Chateau Margaux. . Deep ruby on color, with an enticing perfume filled with smoke, cedar, cassis, violets, oak, tobacco, spice and black raspberries. But that?s not where the excitement is found. In the mouth, pure elegance, silk, satin and velvet, incredibly plush, refined, polished and long, this intensely pure Cabernet Sauvignon based wine remains on your palate for at least 60 seconds. 2010 Chateau Margaux exemplifies precision, purity, balance and elegance with a seamless finish. Everything is in balance with perfect harmony.winecellarinsider.com
Score: 98-100/100Jeff Leve
Cropped at 40 hl /h the 2010 Margaux is an absolute beauty. The nose is very Margaux: violets, damsons, soap, limestone. The palate is pure silk framed with cashmire tannins, beautifully balanced and revealing layer upon layer of beautifullydeliniated flavours which build and build. Not at all obvious, this is all about restraint and subtlety.
Score: 19.5-/20FINE+RARE
The Grand Vin is a blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot and 1.5% each of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Bottled in late July, Paul Pontallier reminded me that the Grand Vin takes around six months before it settles down. Still, allowing several minutes aeration, it has a very intense bouquet of dark cherries, boysenberry, crushed stone and a hint of bay leaf that is beautifully defined, but as Paul mentioned, will need a months to blossom. The palate has a beguiling sense of symmetry: spine-tingling poise and tension. This is a magisterial Chateau Margaux with seamlessly integrated oak, pure dark berry fruit and an almost breathless, Burgundy-like purity on the satin textured finish. Utterly seductive, this is an incredible wine that will age for decades. Tasted November 2012. Neal Martin, eRobertParker.com
Score: 99-/100Neal Martin
The 2010 is a brilliant Chateau Margaux, as one might expect in this vintage. The percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the final blend hit 90%, the balance Merlot and Cabernet Franc, and only 38% of the crop made it into the Chateau Margaux. Paul Pontallier, the administrator, told me that this wine has even higher levels of tannin than some other extraordinary vintages such as 2005, 2000, 1996, etc. Deep purple, pure and intense, with floral notes, tremendous opulence and palate presence, this is a wine of considerable nobility. With loads of blueberry, black currant and violet-infused fruit and a heady alcohol level above 13.5% (although that looks modest compared to several other first growths, particularly Chateau Latour and Chateau Haut-Brion), its beautifully sweet texture, ripe tannin, abundant depth and profound finish all make for another near-perfect wine that should age effortlessly for 30-40 years. Wine Advocate, February 2013
Score: 99-/100Robert Parker
The amazingly complex 2010 Margaux is a deep ruby colour, with striking aromatics of sweet violets, cedar , blackberries and ripe blackcurrants, leading to rich and really pure fruit flavours and deep velvety tannins on the palate, and a very long finish. The 90% Cabernet Sauvignon has clearly added density and richness to this wine, which will need at least 10 years of bottle age. asianpalate.com
Score: 97-99/100Jeannie Cho Lee MW
Superfocused and superracy, with torrents of cherry, raspberry and plum fruit. Offering terrific mouthfeel, this glides by effortlessly, with a fantastic perfume developing on the finish. Long and iron-tinged. Really, really fine-grained. Other than 2006, this is the only vintage since 2000 with as much Cabernet Sauvignon (90 percent). Tasted non-blind. James Molesworth, winespectator.com
Score: 96-99/100Wine Spectator
Amazingly dark purple. Very, very strongly Cabernet Sauvignon (90% of the blend - only 2006 matched it) with some light vegetation at first which opened out and mellowed to something utterly seductive in the glass. Dry and intense. Very rich on the front and amazingly supple – it smells as though it may be going to be a bit of brute but on the palate it is still so intense and polished initially but then it is clear that there are masses and masses of tannins. There is noble, fine, perfectly confident, minerally fruit that opens out on the palate. It is thinkable to drink this already! Paul Pontallier: ‘We decanted the samples but it still grows in the glass.’ 13.5% jancisrobinson.com
Score: 19-/20Jancis Robinson
Château Margaux recorded as many as 2,000 tasters during the critical early April period, including many Chinese. At the opposite end of the spectrum from Mouton, with faint citric odours, is now fairly austere and restrained, with acid and medium-rare tannins, through which is suggested a completeness and finesse, revealing bilberry, plum and lime flavours. Its relatively low alcohol content is 13.5%. From 90% Cabernet Sauvignon (80% in 2009), 7% Merlot (10% in 2009), 1.5% Petit Verdot, 1.5% Cabernet Franc. The same yield as 2009 has been achieved.This well-balanced and refined classic will live long.
Score: 18-/20Ivor Davies
