Clos Fourtet Premier Grand Cru Classe B, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2010

Offering up awesome notes of blackcurrants, darker cherries, truffle earth, smoke, and tobacco, the 2010 Château Clos Fourtet is a powerful, full-bodied Saint-Emilion that has flawless overall balance, building yet polished, integrated tannins, remarkable freshness, and a great finish. This concentrated yet seamless 2010 will continue to drink brilliantly over the coming 40+ years. While I still give the nod to the 2009, this is unquestionably a legendary Saint-Emilion, and I wish every reader could taste it. Drink 2025-2065.

The wine has an opaque blue/black color and abundant notes of forest floor, spring flowers, black raspberry and blueberry liqueur in the aromatics along with hints of espresso and white chocolate. The wine is dense, full, rich, unctuously textured and very full-bodied, with its extravagant glycerin, fruit and extract covering the wine’s somewhat tannic structure. This is a bigger, more restrained and structured wine than the outrageously flamboyant and prodigious 2009. Give it 5-8 years of cellaring and drink it over the following 30-40 years.

The 2010 Clos Fourtet is a blend of 87% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cabernet Franc that came in at 14.5% alcohol. Yields were modest at 31 hectoliters per hectare. The harvest was late, starting at the very end of September and not finishing until the beginning of the third week of October.
98

Although this superb 2010 is built differently, it is as impressive as the extravagant 2009 and the prodigious 2005. A blend of 85% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc made from yields of 31 hectoliters per hectare, with 14.5% natural alcohol, Stephane Derenoncourt is the consulting winemaker. One can not say enough about what proprietor Philippe Cuvelier has accomplished at Clos Fourtet over the last decade turning a perennial underachiever into one of the great wines of Bordeaux. Production from this 50-acre vineyard is nearly 4,000 cases. The inky/purple-hued 2010 displays a beautiful bouquet of incense, blueberry and blackberry liqueur, licorice and camphor. Full-bodied and opulent with more tannin and glycerin than the massive 2009, the 2010, while less sumptuous than the 2009, is a huge effort that is undoubtedly capable of lasting 30 years.
95-97

Lovely deep plum colour, vivid violet reflections, this delivers exactly what you want from a 2010 - with clarity of blackberry and bilberry fruit, waves of fresher pomegranate and juicy greengage, a ton of liquorice, fennel and gunsmoke, taut with tension and precisely-cut tannins. Exceptional quality. 80% new oak. Stephane Derenoncourt and Jean-Claude Berrouet consultants.

Deep garnet in color, the 2010 Clos Fourtet is a little closed to begin, opening out to reveal notes of baked black cherries, blueberry preserves and dried mulberries plus hints of cast-iron pan, fertile loam and cigar box with a waft of sandalwood. Full-bodied, the palate has a rock-solid frame of firm, grainy tannins and compelling freshness supporting the muscular fruit, finishing long and mineral laced. Very impressive!

The 2010 Clos Fourtet was picked between September 30 and October 21 at 34 hl/ha. This has an impressive nose: an enticing mélange of red and black fruit, crushed stone, wilted rose petals and tobacco emanating from the Cabernet Sauvignon. The palate is medium-bodied but with real depth, its power counterbalanced by the keen line of acidity. Touches of spicebox, white pepper and mineral define the precise finish that lingers in the mouth. Outstanding. Tasted at the Clos Fourtet vertical in April 2023.

A beautiful wine, with everything in the bottle. Blackberries, minerals and blueberries. Full and silky. Long, long finish.

Deep inky-purple. Ripe black fruit and fresh herb aromas are complicated by tobacco and Oriental spices. Bright and lively on the palate, with supple, pure black cherry and blackberry flavors lifted by aromatic spices and peppery nuances. Finishes moderately long, with mounting tannins and a trace of heat.

Deep inky-purple. Ripe black fruit and fresh herb aromas are complicated by tobacco and Oriental spices. Bright and lively on the palate, with supple, pure black cherry and blackberry flavors lifted by aromatic spices and peppery nuances. Finishes moderately long, with mounting tannins and a trace of heat.