John Gilman: Another very good example of the vintage, but I suspect it will always have to live in the long shadow of the 2008 and 2009. The wine is probably a tad riper than the 2009, and at this very early date, it seems to have lost just a touch of focus and delineation at this slightly higher-octane level. The bouquet is certainly deep and impressively complex as it offers up scents of sweet cassis, dark berries, Cuban cigar ash, espresso, gravel, lead pencil, and a bit of singed earth. On the palate, the wine is deep, full-bodied, and massive in shape, with impeccable balance, a superb core, very substantial, but well-integrated tannins, tangy acids, and outstanding length and grip on the powerful finish. There is a fine spine of minerality that promises a very fine evolution, but the ripeness seems to have taken just a touch of back-end lift away from the wine. It is a very good wine, and it may prove that I have underrated it a bit. 2027–2100+. 17.5+

Michael Schuster: Beautifully gracious nose, very marked mineral and fruit balance, expressive already, complex, complete, fine; beautifully balanced, firm, finely tannic, concentrated wine, full of fresh, ripe fruit and a very marked minerality; long, seamless, polished St-Estèphe, rich and sappy, with that vital acidity defining and tempering the black-fruit ripeness. Long, dense, spicy, and effortless, with an almost nutty quality to the powdery fine tannins and wonderful aromatic length. Dense, direct, linear, perfectly defined wine; so fine in texture that accessibility at 10 years seems not inconceivable! 2022–45+. 17.5/18.5+