Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
More dense and compact than the 2009, the 2010 Feytit-Clinet offers a huge, rich, backward style in its smoked dark fruits, graphite, crushed rock, violet, and truffle aromas and flavors. Like the 2009, it's a massive, rich, incredibly concentrated wine. Hide bottles for 4-5 years and enjoy over the following two to three decades.
Rating: 98+ -
James Suckling
A wine with beautiful balance of blackberries, dark chocolate and flowers. Full body, with very refined tannins and a glorious finish. Speechless. Best wine ever from here. Better after 2017.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
As I have indicated in previous reports, Feytit-Clinet is a property on the rise. The 2010 comes from a tiny vineyard of about 18+ acres just across the street from Trotanoy and Latour a Pomerol. A blend of 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc reaching 14.5% natural alcohol (a nearly standard level of alcohol in most Pomerols and St.-Emilions in 2010), this wine sports a dense purple color and a sweet nose of mulberries, blueberry liqueur, cassis and licorice as well as hints of mocha and white chocolate. Full-bodied, dense, and rich, with sweet tannin and good acidity giving it a laser-like precision and freshness on the palate, this wine should drink nicely for 15+ years.
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Wine Spectator
This takes a structured approach, with graphite and sage leading the way for a still-backward core of dark plum, fig and black currant paste notes. Dense and muscular on the finish, offering ganache and smoldering tobacco accents, closing with a tarry thread that kicks in for extra length.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
A source of exceptionally sensual and glamorous red wines, Pomerol is actually a rather small appellation in an unassuming countryside. It sits on a plateau immediately northeast of the city of Libourne on the right bank of the Dordogne River. Pomerol and St-Émilion are the stars of what is referred to as Right Bank Bordeaux: Merlot-dominant red blends completed by various amounts of Cabernet Franc or Cabernet Sauvignon. While Pomerol has no official classification system, its best wines are some of the world’s most sought after.
Historically Pomerol attached itself to the larger and more picturesque neighboring region of St-Émilion until the late 1800s when discerning French consumers began to recognize the quality and distinction of Pomerol on its own. Its popularity spread to northern Europe in the early 1900s.
After some notable vintages of the 1940s, the Pomerol producer, Petrus, began to achieve great international attention and brought widespread recognition to the appellation. Its subsequent distribution by the successful Libourne merchant, Jean-Pierre Mouiex, magnified Pomerol's fame after the Second World War.
Perfect for Merlot, the soils of Pomerol—clay on top of well-drained subsoil—help to create wines capable of displaying an unprecedented concentration of color and flavor.
The best Pomerol wines will be intensely hued, with qualities of fresh wild berries, dried fig or concentrated black plum preserves. Aromas may be of forest floor, sifted cocoa powder, anise, exotic spice or toasted sugar and will have a silky, smooth but intense texture.