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Lascombes 2010

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Margaux
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyCabernet Sauvignon

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château Lascombes

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Tasting Notes

The wine hits all cylinders in 2010. The average alcohol for the bottled wine is 14%. It has a gorgeously sweet nose of creme de cassis, spring flowers, subtle barbecue smoke and charcoal followed by full body, beautiful intensity, great purity, stature and length. The influence of any oak is minimal, despite the fact that 90% new French oak was used. Needless to say, this is an example of modern-styled winemaking at it's finest, and arguments that such wines will not age well, do not represent their terroir , and are soul-less, are totally groundless. Give it 5 or so years of cellaring and drink it over the following 25-30 years. This is one of the great Margaux wines of the vintage.

Probably the greatest Lascombes made to date, the 2010 is a blend of 55% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Petit Verdot. The production from this huge estate totals nearly 400,000 bottles.

96
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (205), March 2013

What a wonderful nose of ripe strawberries and hints of vanilla. Full body with soft and velvety tannins and a long, long finish. This is luscious and sexy. Try in 2017.

94
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, February 2013

Deep garnet in color, the 2010 Lascombes gives up notes of dried herbs, tilled soil and black olives over a blackcurrant cordial and plums preserves core plus a touch of crushed rocks. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers chewy tannins and bold freshness to support the savory flavors, finishing with an herbal lift. 2020-2038

92
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate, March 2020

A powerful, textured wine, reminds you exactly of why we describe 2010 as an architectural vintage, and it would be churlish to say that this lacks some Margaux typicity - it is quite clearly a brilliant wine that has decades ahead of it. Creme de cassis, blackberry, creme caramel, smoked campfire, grilled turmeric, pomegranate and orange peel, exuberant but staying within the lines. I often prefer the 2009 to 2010 in many estates right now, but for me this one stands out above the 2009 for having the fruit and the heft through the mid palate to really balance out the alcohol. Great stuff, and almost certain that this will taste even better after being open 24 hours. 36hl/h yield, 90% new oak; harvest September 30 to October 20. Maceration extended to 35 days at this point, still with malo in barrel. Dominique Befve director, Alain Raynaud and Michel Rolland consultant winemakers.

96
Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com, October 2023

Another extremely dark blackish crimson Margaux. Lifted nose and very sweet and sumptuous. Extremely caressing in terms of texture. Wine as massage. But with lots of tannins hidden in there underneath. So much pleasure in store... Though pretty alcoholic!

17.5
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2011

There has been a total transformation in quality here recently. Modern, impressive wines are now being made here which are often criticised for not being very Margaux-like. Nevertheless, they are much better than the dreadful efforts produced at Lascombes under the former regime. This 2010 has an inky black colour and the fleshy black fruit is currently completely dominated by the rasping, raw new oak. Marmite on the nose, chewy and dense on the palate then woody dryness on the finish. Very un-knit right now and hard to judge.

91
Farr Vintners, April 2011

It is very modern with rich fleshy fruit on the nose and sweet ripe black fruits filling out the palate. There are tannins in evidence surrounded by supple slightly jammy fruit. The oak is rather too obvious on both nose and back palate.

87/91
Derek Smedley MW, April 2011
92
Tim Atkin MW, timatkin.com, April 2011

Very well extracted ripe fruit, shows the ripeness and structure of 2010 and fine ripe tannins for the future. Drink 2017-30.

17.5
Steven Spurrier, Decanter.com, April 2011
Read more tasting notes...

While this large property is composed of a huge number of small parcels that must require military-like precision to harvest, the quality of the wines over the last decade has been remarkable. The 2010 may turn out to be the greatest Lascombes ever made. It boasts a dense purple color along with an extraordinarily uplifted set of aromatics consisting of blueberry liqueur, black cherries, subtle smoke, crushed rocks and restrained oak. Massive fruit, an unctuous texture, a skyscraper-like mid-palate and stunning definition (because of good acids and a modest pH) have resulted in a formidable wine that will benefit from 5-6 years of cellaring, and should keep for 30 years. A brilliant effort!

94/97
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (194), May 2011

Impressive start with lots of polished and silky tannins here, and an enticing depth of fruit and a caressing finish.

91/92
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, March 2011

Lascombes in 2010 has exuberance and precision and confidence, and a sense of fun. At the 10 year mark the power of the tannins is clear and evident. It's a big, concentrated, exuberant wine but it has delicacy and construction and persistency.

94
Jane Anson, Decanter.com, January 2020
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.