2010 La Tour Figeac

Smoked, charred fruit here on the nose. Too much oak! And not enough fruit and refreshment. (JR)

Bright red-ruby. Sexy aromas of liqueur-like black raspberry, mocha, chocolate, game and truffley earth. Plush, smoky and sweet, with utterly pliant flavors of raspberry, mocha, truffle and loam. Finishes with a firm dusting of tannins and excellent breadth and length. I'd hold this for three or four years and then enjoy it over the next ten. No rough edges to this lovely merlot-based wine.

The alcohol is more modest at 14% than many other St.-Emilions, but the wine displays a sumptuous personality, with loamy, sandy soil notes interwoven with black currant, blueberry and sweet cherry, some floral nuances and a touch of toasty oak. It is a rich, full-bodied wine with moderate tannin. Give it several years of cellaring and drink it over the following 15 or more years. Far superior to what I remember tasting from barrel, this 2010 comes from a vineyard that was part of the greater Figeac estate until it was sold off in the late 1800s. The wine is a blend of 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc made by the other half of the dynamic duo of Bordeaux consultants, Christine Derenoncourt, wife of Stephane. Very low yields of 25 hectoliters per hectare produced a final blend of 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc.