Last night Robert Parker published his much-anticipated in-bottle scores for the 2008 vintage, as well as his notes and scores for Bordeaux 2010. The last of the critics to pronounce judgment on the latter, Parker claims that "it is an inescapable truth that 2010 has produced another year of compelling Bordeaux that will go down as a prodigious vintage alongside 2009". His vintage report sees ten wines flirt with perfection, including four of the five First Growths. Whilst many critics have cited Margaux as one of the stars of the vintage, as far as Parker is concerned, the wine did not match the quality of its fellow First Growths, and thus comes in a touch lower at 96-98 points.
Is the latest vintage superior to its predecessor, 2009? Perhaps not, though Parker does count it amongst "the three greatest Bordeaux vintages I have tasted in my career" – the others being 2009 and 2005.
"I do not think it would be fair or prudent to say that 2010 exceeds in overall quality what was produced in 2009, 2005 or perhaps even 2000. However, it is unquestionably another great vintage."
His top-scoring wines are displayed in the table below.
The latest issue of the Wine Advocate also features Parker's in-bottle scores for the 2008s, which he rated significantly higher than his peers two years ago (raising a few eyebrows amongst the trade). Though he maintains that many top estates produced strong wines, "they may not hit the high marks of the sumptuous 2009s or massive 2010s".
With very few exceptions, his in-bottle ratings fall on the lower-end of, or even below, his initial barrel-score spreads. Lafite Rothschild received the highest rating at 98 points and in all it would seem that the wines have failed to live up to his expectations.
The table below shows the initial ratings and in-bottle scores for some of the top 2008s. Check back this afternoon for a more detailed analysis of his 2008 and 2010 reviews.
Source: erobertparker.com.
