Chateau Mouton Rothschild 2010

This is pure Cabernet Sauvignon magic with incredible aromas of currants, blackberries and light spices. Tiny hints of hazelnut. Wet earth. Full body, with super velvety tannins. The purity of fruit is breathtaking. It goes on for minutes. This is 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot. Try after 2020.

People always ask me: What do you do with your wine notes and why do you take so many photographs? Well, I am as crazy as anyone could be about wine, wine history and what wine means to all of us. As I enter the twilight of my life, I am beginning more and more to believe that I was born to tell the story of wine. Every time I visit a vineyard, I feel different, as if the grapes on the vines are talking to me. I had visited Château Mouton Rothschild on many occasions, but in the spring of 2011, the visit was simply magical. As I sipped the barrel sample of the 2010 Château Mouton Rothschild, I recounted the many times before when I was slightly underwhelmed. This of course is ironic since this is of the grandest wine properties in all the world. But here I was, ready for one of the greatest wine moments in my life. A look, a swirl and a sip later, I was transported into another space and time and now into the 4th dimension. The wine was so amazing, and immediately became my highest rated Bordeaux barrel sample. I gave the wine 99-100 points. Now three years later, I find myself in a perfect job with a new company. I loved my old guys and they took care of me well, but in my newly created position of Chief Storyteller at Wine.com, I found myself in a spot with tasting greater opportunities including a moment in front of a finished bottled of the 2010 Château Mouton Rothschild. I knew I would love the wine, but there were so many famous Bordeaux in the room including Ducru-Beaucaillou, Pichon Lalande, Palmer, and others, that my senses were on overload. Many of these wines were poured. I had also tasted out of barrel in 2011. The anticipation was almost too much. The wine performed magnificently and had reached the pinnacle I had expected. Deep and dark in color as it had been out of the barrel, a miraculous aroma of black currant, steel, chalk and oak, nicely melded and talking to me like no other wine; medium bodied, yet firm, robust and elegant in stature; rich flavors, just beginning to reveal themselves, black fruit, violets, sweet oak, vanilla, mineral and all of those usual suspects, gently folding into each other; long finish, loads of sweet tannins to secure its longevity. Are there any perfect wines? Maybe not, but this is one of the very finest wine experiences ever, from a newly hatched barrel sample in Bordeaux to the finished wine in a bottle in San Francisco, the 2010 Château Mouton Rothschild is of the greatest wines ever! (Tasted: April 28, 2014, San Francisco, CA)

A legendary wine, probably one of the best ever. Balance, power, silk. If you and your friends were to splurge on just one wine in your life, this would be a fine choice.

This remains the stunner, a battleship of a wine, brimming with cassis, blackberry and fig fruit that has melded together now, with the backdrop of alder, bay leaf and menthol starting to emerge a bit more. The long finish is loaded with grip, pulling the fruit and other components together. And then there's that flash of iron at the very end. Awesome wine.—Non-blind Mouton-Rothschild vertical

A dense, smooth and opulent wine bursting with ripe Cabernet Sauvignon flavors. It's regal and well structured, balancing the natural exuberance of Mouton with a more severe side. This is a wine with power, yet not without its charms from the fruitiness and final acidity. This great wine will age many, many years. Cellar Selection.