Chateau Faugeres 2010

JAMES SUCKLING: "Very fruity and rich wine with dried strawberries and blackberries. Full body, with an opulent palate of ripe fruit and toasted oak. Yet racy and refined with a beautiful balance. It´s fresh and racy. Try after 2018."

FALSTAFF: "Dunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe, dezente Randaufhellung. Zart mit Cassis und Lakritze unterlegtes schwarzes Beerenkonfit, zart nach Nougat und Feigen, dezente Kräuterwürze, Orangenzesten. Saftige Brombeerfrucht, schokoladige Textur, gut inte­grierte, kraftvolle Tannine, bleibt gut haften, extraktsüßer Nachhall, gutes Zukunftspotenzial."

WEINWISSER: "85 % Merlot, 10 % Cabernet Franc, 5 % Cabernet Sauvignon. Sattes Purpur-Granat. Verführerisch süsses Bouquet, Himbeeren und frisch gekochte Preiselbeeren, dahinter helle Edelhölzer. Im Gaumen stoffig, guter Rückhalt bei schon fast extremer Konzentration – auch bei der Säure –, im Innern Spuren von roten Johannisbeeren und im Finale mit Kirschnote endend. Bereitet in etwa sechs Jahren viel burgundischen Spass."

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "92-94 Spice and mint aromas with blackberry fruit, new wood and a polished character. The acidity is delicious, refreshing."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The estate’s most abundant cuvee of about 5,000+ cases is the 2010 Faugeres, a blend of 85% Merlot with the rest mostly Cabernet Franc and just a small quantity of Cabernet Sauvignon, all bottled unfined and unfiltered. It is another St.-Emilion hitting 15% natural alcohol. Tiny yields of 22 hectoliters per hectare and a late harvest that went into the third week of October have resulted in a stunningly concentrated wine with notes of crushed rock, blue and dark red/black fruits, some camphor, incense and, for lack of a better description, a smell of acacia flowers. A sexy, opulent and full-bodied wine that seems to have more in common with the 2009s than most 2010s, this wine can be drunk out of the gate, but will certainly hit its stride in 3-4 years and last for up to 15."

WINE SPECTATOR: "Solid, if a touch chewy along the edges right now, as briar, cocoa and licorice snap notes are out in front of the core of pastis-soaked plum and blackberry fruit. There´s lots of sweet, roasted wood spice on the finish, with the briary edge lingering as well. A bit exotic, but the structure is legit and cellaring should tame this. Best from 2015 through 2027. 5,250 cases made."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Fruity, fleshy and fresh, this combines perfectly ripe, opulently textured, red and black fruits, velvet textures and a long end note of licorice, espresso, ripe black plums and black cherry, with a bit of cocoa on top of the fruit. Round, fat, juicy, sweet, ripe, dark red fruits, cocoa, anise, smoke and plums are made even better with the lushly textured mouth feel, silky tannins and sweet, ripe, polished fruits in the finish."