Reviews

Tastes like black cherry and blueberry jelly, a very fruity, sweet wine with a bite of citrusy acidity. Absolutely delicious, yes, but not showing much complexity or nuance.

A deft use of oak adds spice accents to the strawberry and raspberry favors without being heavy-handed. Balanced, this is more chunky than elegant.

An excellent, fresh white that also displays notable richness and balance, the 2010 Louis Bernard Château Noël Saint-Laurent Côtes du Rhône Blanc (Viognier, Grenache Blanc, Bourboulenc, and Marsanne) delivers loads of peach, stone fruits, honeysuckle, and white flowers to go with a medium-bodied, rounded mouth feel, juicy acidity and good length on the finish. Absolutely worth the price of admission, this borderlineoutstanding white should be enjoyed over the coming 1-2 years.

Also well done and a fair value, the 2010 Louis Bernard Côtes du Rhône Domaine Le Garrigon, a blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Carignan, shows loads of red and black fruits, leaf tobacco, damp earth, and pepper, to go with a medium-bodied, supple, lightly textured palate. There’s not much depth here, but it’s very well balanced, improves in the glass, and excels for its approachable, easy drinking character. It should be enjoyed over the coming 2-3 years.

The 2010 Cotes de Beaune Les Pierres Blanches is flat-out delicious. Crushed rocks, slate, citrus peel and smoke are some of the many notes that flow from this wiry, beautifully articulated white. The 2010 possesses gorgeous length and a long, creamy finish. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2018.

The 2010 Beaune Clos du Roi is gorgeous for its soft, round fruit and accessible personality. Sweet red cherries, crushed flowers and tobacco wrap around the delicate, somewhat fleeting finish. This is an excellent choice for drinking over the next few years. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2018.

The 2010 Beaune Greves impresses for its textural depth, richness and overall complexity. There is plenty of volume in the fruit in the style of the vintage, but with plenty of underlying minerality. All in all, this is a terrific Greves well worth considering. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2022.

The 2010 Beaune Greves impresses for its textural depth, richness and overall complexity. There is plenty of volume in the fruit in the style of the vintage, but with plenty of underlying minerality. All in all, this is a terrific Greves well worth considering. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2022. This is stunning set of wines from Pierre Vincent and Domaine de la Vougeraie. It is impossible to miss the attention to detail at this impeccably run domaine. No expense is spared. It takes 80 people to work the vineyards during harvest and another 20 in the cellar to take it from there. Production in 2010 was of course down significantly as it was everywhere else. Yields came in at 24 hectoliters per hectare for the Pinot and 29 for the Chardonnay. Vincent used between 30-80% whole bunches, depending on the wine. Readers who want to learn more might want to check out my video interview with Pierre Vincent on www.erobertparker.com. I will report on the domaine’s 2009s in the April issue. For now let me just say the 2009 Musigny is one of the wines of the vintage.

The 2010 Nuits St. Georges Les Corvees Paget is a powerful, super-ripe wine that shows quite a bit of exuberance. This was one of the last parcels to be harvested. The level of ripeness and concentration are a little unusual for the year. Once the juiciness fades off a bit, there isn’t as much complexity as is found in the best 2010s here. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2025. This is stunning set of wines from Pierre Vincent and Domaine de la Vougeraie. It is impossible to miss the attention to detail at this impeccably run domaine. No expense is spared. It takes 80 people to work the vineyards during harvest and another 20 in the cellar to take it from there. Production in 2010 was of course down significantly as it was everywhere else. Yields came in at 24 hectoliters per hectare for the Pinot and 29 for the Chardonnay. Vincent used between 30-80% whole bunches, depending on the wine. Readers who want to learn more might want to check out my video interview with Pierre Vincent on www.erobertparker.com. I will report on the domaine’s 2009s in the April issue. For now let me just say the 2009 Musigny is one of the wines of the vintage.

A distinctly earthy, brooding and very serious nose features mostly dark berry fruit and sauvage hints. There is very good volume and mid-palate fat to the solidly rich flavors where the supporting tannins are clearly ripe before terminating in a balanced and attractively persistent finish. This delivers fine quality for its level and while it's not a wine of refinement, there is ample character.