97 pts – Wine Advocate
This wine has a character similar to its cross-street neighbor, Petrus, displaying sweet mulberry and intense black fruit characteristics, with a hint of vanillin and loads of black cherry jam. Full-bodied, extravagantly luscious, with a skyscraper-like mid-palate and phenomenal length of close to 50 seconds, the wine has plenty of tannin, but the voluptuous fruit, power and overall glycerin and intensity tend to conceal much of it. Elegant but compellingly rich and authoritative, the 2010 is a truly magnificent wine for this estate, which has one of the finest terroirs in all of Pomerol. Forget it for 5-7 years and drink it over the following 30-35. – WA, RP (2/2013)
97 pts – Wine Spectator
This has a dense, almost loamy feel at the core, with smoldering bay and ganache notes leading to layers of fig preserves, blackberry coulis and steeped black currant fruit. The terrific, charcoal-coated grip drives the finish with authority. This seems poised to expand significantly in the cellar. Best from 2016 through 2035. 3,700 cases made. – WS (3/2013)
95 pts – Vinous
Good bright red-ruby. Very fresh, highly scented nose combines cherry, raspberry, flowers, crushed stone, tobacco and underbrush; this could only be Pomerol. Fat, ripe and extremely deep but with uncanny precision and peppery lift to its vibrant flavors of cherry, raspberry, black tea and stony minerality. A Pomerol of great energy and refinement, finishing with firm tannic spine, terrific peppery lift and outstanding mineral reserve. Based on this wine’s tightly coiled quality and uncanny depth, I would expect it to merit an even higher score a decade from now, when it will probably also reveal more flesh and sweetness. – IWC 95+ (8/2013)
