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Chateau Canon shows no shy and retiring character in 2010, set to a naturally ripe and high 15% alcohol. Though power and density is a motif in 2010, there is a surprising suppleness in this wine, born from central St-Emillion vineyards and the same family of wine as Chateau Rauzan-Segla of Margaux. Almost evenly split between Merlot and Cabernet Franc usually, it''s three quarters Merlot in 2010; the wine matures in oak barrel for 18 months, with around 70% of those offering new wood character. While dense and compact, there is a succulence to the wine that suggests cellaring to two decades would be apt.

In the upper echelon of 2nd Growth estates, Chateau Cos D''Estournel is located in St-Estephe appelltion, on the fringe of Paulliac and notably just north of the famed Lafite vineyards. Tourists flock to the Medoc estate to see the unusual, Asian-inspired Chateau design, but the wines hold their own and rightfully are considered the finest within St-Estephe. Oak is set to around 80% new barrels while alcohol is a modest 14.5%; the blend in 2010 is 78% Cabernet Sauvignon with 19% Merlot and complimentary Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot in tow. A wine for thirty or so years.

This wine is made from two parcels which are found on the border of the communes of Meursault and Puligny-Montrachet. The first, which is to the left of the Clos des Perrières, has clay/limestone soil and a subsoil of volcanic rock which allows a healthy root system to develop in this limestone-rich environment. The second is on the upper slope and overlooks the Perrières quarry. Here the soil is heavily limestone, partly as marl and partly as white rock. This is interesting for the way it brings mineral notes to the wine. During tastings it often find notes of white pepper and other spices both on the nose and on the palate.

One of the longest-lived white wines in France, the extremely rare M.Chapoutier Ermitage de lOrée is a single varietal Marsanne sourced from a single vineyard Murets plot at the eastern edge of the Hill of Hermitage. Orée means edge in French and is also a reference to the colour of the wine as or in French means gold. Rich, full-bodied and immensely complex, Ermitage de lOrée has the structure and concentration to age often well beyond 50 years.