Château Desmirail 2010

With balanced proportions, more closed than it was en primeur at this stage, but that’s normal. Let this great-value wine (one of the last classed under 30 euros!) age a little, then enjoy it for its sensual, silky character.

This has ample stuffing, with layers of plum, red currant and loganberry fruit mixed with notes of bay leaf, warm paving stone and taut red licorice. Charcoal-stained grip coats the finish. Best from 2014 through 2026. 583 cases made.

Cherries, blackcurrants and some dark purple florals on the nose, a little confected. Strong and round, upfront, tannic and mouthfilling but in a crushed velvet, powdery, wet-stone way with graphite and liquorice elements, before a gentle, tapered finish. A touch dry, but it has persistence, acidity and a cool freshness. A good wine to have with food, and it may settle some more as it ages.

Medium-bodied, soft, subtle and silky, with freshness in the sweet, ripe, dark red fruits and a hint of floral character on the nose. Nice now, but this will be better with just a few more years of bottle age.

Deep purple, saturated at the core, garnet shimmer at the rim. Floral bouquet, some red fruit but not very forthcoming. On the palate, quite pronounced, a tannin–acid bond, wonderfully little charm and ending with capsule notes. After last year’s glimmer of hope (17/20), again very disappointing this year. (15/20). 12: Intense wine-red, ruby rim. The bouquet is rather idiosyncratic: the first nose suggests tea biscuits, bread crust, then jammy sweet fruit, with a floral glimmer behind. On the palate, the flow is mealy and roughening, the tannins are brittle and very dry. A wine that recalls a riverbed in the Serengeti.

Hollow, muted bouquet, old wood, cherries. Slim, dry, angular palate with firm tannins, light structure, little aromatics, thin, dry finish. 16/20 2017 - 2025

Smoked, grilled almonds, sandalwood and liquorice; this has plenty of punch but struggles to deliver the vivid fruit that should be one of the defining characteristics of the 2010 vintage. Harvest from September 29 to October 19. Jacques Boissenot consultant.

Supple and fresh, lovely fruit, a touch of tannic firmness.

The nose is aromatic, elegant, and offers a certain racy power as well as fine intensity. It reveals notes of ripe blackberry, pulpy plum, wild strawberry, and, more subtly, sweet spices, joined by touches of violet and cardamom, along with hints of clove, forest floor, and a very delicate touch of pepper. The palate is fruity, balanced, and racy, offering a juicy/tangy backbone, some fat, roundness, a lovely slightly silky texture, fine freshness, energy, and elegance. On the palate, this wine expresses notes of pulpy/fleshy blackberry, pulpy blackcurrant, and, more subtly, fleshy raspberry, combined with touches of ripe purple plum as well as hints of violet, mocha, camphor, toasted notes, cardamom, fine hints of undergrowth, clove, and a very delicate hint of hazelnut. Good length. The tannins are very finely firm. Persistent notes of undergrowth, pulpy fruit, and a very delicate hint of tonka bean.

Light wine.

87-89 Firmly structured, dense tannins and wood, leaving the fruit behind. Extraction is a problem here.