Chateau La Fleur-Petrus, Pomerol 2010

The 2010 Château La Fleur-Petrus is based on 96.5% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and a splash of Petit Verdot. It has a perfumed nose of sweet red and black fruits as well as menthol, flowers, chalky minerality, and loamy earth. This gives way to a medium to full-bodied, concentrated, flawlessly balanced Pomerol that has a juicy, lively mouthfeel, ripe, integrated tannins, and a great finish. It's incredibly complex and, given its balance and purity, is a dream to drink today. However, I see no reason it shouldn't continue to evolve for another two decades if well stored. Drink 2025-2045.

A clear step up for me from the 2009 vintage, here the entire architecture and tension through the wine is well crafted, confidently held together, with layers of cocoa bean, cassis, crayon, graphite, juicy blackberry fruit, poised and crafted.

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.

The 2010 La Fleur-Pétrus does not quite compete with the 2010 Gazin on the nose. It is more low-key than expected with brambly red fruit, loamy soil, wild heather and bay leaf scents, but it just lacks a little intensity. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins. This feels well balanced and poised, a more gentle Pomerol than its peers with a feminine and quite persistent finish. You could drink this now although I would prefer to leave it another couple of years to see if it can replicate its more impressive showing after bottling. Tasted at the BI Wines & Spirits 10-Year On tasting.

Deep ruby-purple. Explosive aromas of blackcurrant, black cherry, violet and flint. Round, silky and broad, with lovely sweetness and perfume to its black fruit and mineral flavors. A big, perfumed, very long Lafleur-Petrus that finishes with fine, rising tannins and a lingering floral aftertaste. One of the best young showings ever for Lafleur-Petrus; this wine needs time: drink from 2018 through 2035.

Deep garnet in color, the 2010 la Fleur-Petrus features notes of baked blackberries, boysenberries and plum pudding with nuances of sautéed herbs and tilled soil. Medium to full-bodied, the mid-palate is a little lean, while it has a firm, chewy texture and invigorating finish.

Lots of ripe fruit and soft tannins. A little one-dimensional now, but promising structure.