2010 Batailley
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Tasting Notes
This is right up there. All graphite and a classy Pauillac edge on the nose. This is not a bruiser: it is elegantly silky with a beguiling lift to it. Very impressive. Proper wine in that it tastes of pure Pauillac rather than fancy winemaking. The texture is like a fine woven steel embroidery: power and strength combines with a silky elegance. Excellent.
Critic Scores
Average Score
Decanter
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
Deep, slightly smoky cassis fruit and a touch of violets, full rather meaty flavours, both roundness and depth from this very reliable château. Drink 2018-28. Steven Spurrier, decanter.com
Tasted at the Batailley vertical tasting the chateau, the 2010 Batailley may well have been the best wine in a tasting that encompassed three centuries of winemaking at the estate. The nose offers outstanding delineation and mineralite. It positively fizzes in the glass with all that coiled-up energy, ladling out vivid blackberry and cedar aromas. The palate is medium-bodied, but it is the detail and precision that achieves a level that makes the 2010 a benchmark for the Pauillac estate. It sashays towards a tensile, tar and graphite-tinged finish that lingers in the mouth. This is destined for long-term aging insofar that its quality will not be widely appreciated for many years. Tasted April 2016. Jun 2017, www.robertparker.com
Tasted 17 Feb: Very dark purple. Very dark purple elderberry notes. Sweet and round and a bit of spice. Lots of fine tannin. Tasted blind 8 Apr: Bright, deep purplish crimson. Ripe fruit with a slight smoky note. Very sweet and fluid. Not the most concentrated but a good example that you really can’t go too wrong with Pauillac 2010. Just a tiny bit of green on the finish. But super clean and fresh. jancisrobinson.com
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About the producer
It was on the site of Batailley in 1453 that one of the final battles (or “batailles”) of the Hundred Years’ War took place. Today owned by the Castéja family, the Fifth Growth is renowned for producing wine that is the epitome of classic Claret.