Calvados, Cabernet Sauvignon, ...

The 2010 Opus One is on another level and is a deep, concentrated, full-bodied, flawlessly balanced beauty. From a cooler vintage that saw significant heat spikes later in the year, it has incredible purity in its cassis and darker fruits as well as leafy tobacco, flowers, and background oak. With a great mid-palate, ripe, building tannins, and full-bodied richness on the palate, it’s a brilliant wine that has another two decades or more of prime drinking. (98) JEB DUNNUCK – TASTED 2023

Bright dark ruby. Initially reticent nose opened in the glass to reveal wonderfully complex scents of black- and redcurrant, blackberry, minerals, licorice, loam and tobacco leaf, plus a whiff of leather. Seamless, savory and classy on entry if a bit subdued, then delivers lovely restrained sweetness and a complicating wildness in the middle palate that still calls for more bottle aging. Old World in its classic dryness, this highly concentrated Opus One really shines on its vibrant, slowly building back end, where the broad, dusty tannins caress and saturate the palate and allow the fruits and minerals to build. A wine of outstanding depth, clarity, finesse of grain and class; it's hard to imagine that this site could give more. (97) STEPHEN TANZER – tasted 2020

The 2010 Opus One bursts from the glass with an exotic melange of black and blue fruits, menthol, cloves and licorice. Today the 2010 is much more overt, racy and intense than it was just a few months ago. The tannins have begun to soften, releasing the aromas and flavors in an opulent, full-bodied Opus One supported by veins of precise minerality. The 2010 is very, very young, but is also striking in its beauty. (97) ANTONIO GALLONI

The 2010 is a brilliant Chateau Margaux, as one might expect in this vintage. The percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the final blend hit 90%, the balance Merlot and Cabernet Franc, and only 38% of the crop made it into the Chateau Margaux. Paul Pontallier, the administrator, told me that this wine has even higher levels of tannin than some other extraordinary vintages such as 2005, 2000, 1996, etc. Deep purple, pure and intense, with floral notes, tremendous opulence and palate presence, this is a wine of considerable nobility. With loads of blueberry, black currant and violet-infused fruit and a heady alcohol level above 13.5% (although that looks modest compared to several other first growths, particularly Chateau Latour and Chateau Haut-Brion), its beautifully sweet texture, ripe tannin, abundant depth and profound finish all make for another near-perfect wine that should age effortlessly for 30-40 years. (99) WINE ADVOCATE

As we head out of Pauillac, you feel the register change. It takes a heartbeat to adjust, but then you start to see the beauty of a different style of 2010, a little more elegant, a little more sculpted, with concentration that sits deep in the body of the wine but builds more slowly through the palate. This shows the beauty of the appellation of Margaux in the way that you always want and hope the First Growths will - a signpost towards the rest, showing why they should be celebrated. Here are violet aromatics, soft black truffle flavours and silky, elongated tannins. Extremely good quality; fairly savoury berry fruits. (99) DECANTER

A phenomenal nose of roses, violets, and other flowers. Subtle yet rich raspberries and currants. It is 90% Cabernet Sauvignon. The is a curious wine, almost ethereal. It is all in the front of the palate with ultra-fine tannins. It is full and very, very rich but it is forever balanced and in harmony What a wine. It is a pinpointed wine. So cerebral. It sends shivers down my spine. Incredible. (100) JAMES SUCKLING