These 61 tasting notes were taken at the Institute of Masters of Wine's 2010 claret tasting last month, where the wines are available to taste blind or open. I chose the former. All the Grands Crus Classés châteaux are represented, providing a rare opportunity to assess the most reputable estates as neutrally as possible – especially so with a vintage as successful as 2010.
The standard was indeed very high, with no village obviously out-ranking its neighbours. Most of the famous names acquitted themselves well, and some of them are tasting so charming already that I felt you could even...