Chateau Rauzan-Segla Margaux 2010

A wine that could easily be mistaken for a First Growth, the 2010 Rauzan-Ségla is an incredibly powerful, full-bodied wine by this estate's standards, yet it nevertheless holds onto a terrific sense of elegance as well as perfect balance. A huge nose of blackcurrants, smoked earth, tobacco, lead pencil, and spice give way to a concentrated, blockbuster styled Margaux that has thrilling depth of fruit, masses of ripe tannins, and great length and finesse on the finish. This brilliant wine is just now seemingly on the edge of its drink window and offers immense pleasure, yet it has another 30-40 years of life ahead of it. Along with the 2015 and 2016, it's the greatest wine made at this estate in the past two decades.

Beautiful clarity of fruit with raspberries and currants on the nose. Roses and other flowers too. It's almost hard to describe, but there's a real purity. Full body, with fabulous balance and depth. It has everything in the right place. Best ever? Try it in 2018.

One of the top Margaux wines, this is in top form, finely balanced and as elegant as it is powerful. It is darkly structured, dense yet balancing tannins with ripe black plums. It expresses the complexity of the vintage. A wine for serious, long-term aging.

To reiterate, the 2010 Rauzan Segla is like a super-duper version of the 1986. Displaying fabulous density, an inky purple color and a superb nose of forest floor with a hint of menthol as well as loads of creme de cassis, mocha and touches of chocolate and subtle oak, this full-bodied, deep, concentrated wine represents only 45% of the estate's production. It is certainly not for those who can't wait a few years for it to round into shape, as I suspect it needs at least 5-8 years of bottle-age, but it should last for half a century or more.

Flashy style of Margaux, with alluring warm cocoa and black tea aromatics followed by cashmere-textured plum sauce, steeped fig and blackberry confiture notes. The well-integrated structure makes this seem almost accessible now, but the ample length and a smoldering tobacco note make a case for cellaring. Best from 2014 through 2030. 9,666 cases made.

Bright ruby-red. Boysenberry, bitter chocolate, menthol and sweet oak on the nose. Spicy, fat and layered, with compelling sweetness to the concentrated flavors of boysenberry, cherry and dark chocolate. Finishes spicy, broad and very long, with serious but suave tannins and echoing dark fruits. This very dense and full-bodied wine refuses to let up. I'd lay it down for at least seven or eight years and then drink it over the next two or three decades. Looks to be a great vintage for this estate.