La Mondotte 2010

Dark crimson. tarry, dry and intense and angst ridden with less obvious fruit than its stablemate Canon La Gaffelière, but very ambitious, very tarry and introvert.

Full-bodied and powerful but beautifully textured. A touch of the 'iron fist in a velvet glove'. Dense, ripe fruit on the nose with minerally lift. Suave texture and bags of tannin. Long finish. Drink 2020-2035.

Owner Stefan von Neipperg and winemaking consultant Stephane Derenoncourt have fashioned a prodigious wine in 2010. This 11.5-acre gem of an estate sits on clay and limestone soils above Pavie and Pavie Decesse. The 2010's final blend was 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. It offers unctuously-textured mulberry, boysenberry and blueberry fruit intertwined with notions of espresso roast, toast, smoke and graphite. Full-bodied with a skyscraper-like mouthfeel, silky tannins and a tremendous finish, it will be drinkable in 3-4 years and evolve for 20-25 or more.

Tasted blind at the Southwold Bordeaux 2010 tasting. The nose on the La Mondotte 2010 is very intense with multi-layered ripe black cherry and boysenberry fruit - yet it is tightly coiled and needs time to really open up. The palate is medium-bodied with saturated, solid tannins on the entry that are nicely integrated with the fruit. Blackberry and truffle notes on the entry segue into a complex, tannic finish that bodes well for the long-term. There is palpable "solidity" here with a long finish and it will surely merit a higher evaluation once it reaches its plateau of maturity. Tasted January 2014.

A blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, cropped around 16th October and 22nd October respectively. This was punched down only three days, a slow fermentation, big problems with the malolactic (one plot unfinished and included in the blend.) The La Mondotte '10 has a very pure, very attractive bouquet with macerated black cherries, griottes and a touch of honey that verges on marmalade. Fantastic definition. The palate is full-bodied with seamless tannins, very pure and sensual but with real backbone. Good weight in the mouth, imbued with a beguiling symmetry that reminds me of the 2005. Mellifluous on the finish. Very fine. Drink 2015-2025. Tasted March 2011.

This takes my breath away with dark fruits, blackberries, chocolate and spice. Full bodied, with super silky tannins and loads of beautiful dark fruits. Super silky and long. Made from 80 percent Merlot and 20 Cabernet Franc