Bordeaux 2010 – Pauillac

There were some really great 2010 Pauillacs, not all of them first growths. Yields were kept well in check by the poor weather during flowering. The vines showed a certain amount of – but not excessive – water stress with the dry summer keeping berries small and the resulting wines very concentrated and chock full of everything. Many of the wines notched up alcohol levels in excess of 14% but hardly any tasted actively hot.

As the director of the Pauillac oenology lab Christophe Coupez claimed, saying how he regretted expressing...