Chateau Mouton Rothschild 2010

JAMES SUCKLING: "Clearly a perfect wine that shows incredible depth of fruit with currants, dark chocolate, minerals and licorice. Full-bodied, tight and wound up with ripe tannins that let go and seduce you. Makes me want to drink it now. But this is a wine for the long term. Extraordinary. 94% cabernet sauvignon. Better in 2020."

DECANTER: "Smoked grilled tar on the nose, it feels both very 2010 and supremely Mouton - accomplished and confident. A more glamorous, enticing edge than the other Pauillac Firsts at this 10 year window. There are plentiful tannins but they are lined with air, and the overall feel is of plush, plumped fruits, like being rolled-up in luxurious sheets. It is very different in character to the other two Pauillac Firsts, but no less enjoyable. It feels higher in alcohol, more Cos than Lafite in terms of personality, in the way that Pichon Baron is more Latour than Comtesse, but it is nuanced and clever and surprising."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "Tasted at the Mouton-Rothschild vertical in London, the 2010 Mouton-Rothschild is a modern-day benchmark for the First Growth and here, side-by-side with the 2009, it certainly has its nose in front. It is in possession of quite breathtaking delineation and precision, a crystalline bouquet with black fruit laced with minerals, potent pencil shaving notes, a touch of cold slate. It is totally entrancing. The palate has beguiling symmetry, but for me what really distinguishes this Mouton is its effortlessness. Like watching Usain Bolt in his prime sprinting to another world record, this wine is almost self-effacing in terms of its brilliance. Will Philippe Dhalluin ever better this Mouton-Rothschild? Keep it in the cellar for 15 years, if you know what's good for you. Tasted May 2016."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Close to perfect, this is stunning. Rich, full-bodied, opulent, fresh, long and with a beautiful purity of fruit, this is an exciting wine that pleases your palate and senses. The fruit has energy, length and palate coating levels of extract. The texture combines power and silky tannins and the finish pushes past the 60-second mark! Just a baby, give this until the wine hits its 20th birthday and I am sure if well-stored this can easily go another 40-50 years past that. This is everything a great Pauillac and Mouton should be."

WINE SPECTATOR: "This remains the stunner, a battleship of a wine, brimming with cassis, blackberry and fig fruit that has melded together now, with the backdrop of alder, bay leaf and menthol starting to emerge a bit more. The long finish is loaded with grip, pulling the fruit and other components together. And then there's that flash of iron at the very end. Awesome wine.--Non-blind Mouton-Rothschild vertical (March 2017). Best from 2025 through 2060. — JM"

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "A dense, smooth and opulent wine bursting with ripe Cabernet Sauvignon flavors. It's regal and well structured, balancing the natural exuberance of Mouton with a more severe side. This is a wine with power, yet not without its charms from the fruitiness and final acidity. This great wine will age many, many years."

FALSTAFF: "Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe, zarter Wasserrand. Attraktive Brombeeranklänge, feine Kräuterwürze, zart tabakig, ein Hauch von Gewürzen, florale Aspekte, etwas verhalten, aber facettenreich. Komplex, engmaschig, reife Kirschen, zart nach Weichselkirschen, pfeffrige Nuancen, feste, gut integrierte Tannine, Nougat im Abgang, zeigt eine gute Länge und Frische, im Moment etwas verschlossen, die Frucht geht nun etwas schlafen, ein zeitloser Klassiker mit tollem Entwicklungspotenzial."

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Very naughty heavy bottle. Some evolution at the rim. Rich, heady nose. Thick and bloody. Lots of drama – even melodrama! Salty finish and perhaps not quite as sweet as it could be. Admirably long."