John Gilman: The 2010 Branaire-Ducru has turned out very well indeed, but this is an estate that has often done quite well in riper years like 1982 and 1989. The nose is deep, impressively pure, and sappy, offering up scents of blackberries, black cherries, cigar smoke, soil, espresso, and toasty new oak. On the palate, the wine is deep, full-bodied, tight, and ripely tannic, with a fine core of fruit, very good balance, and a long, poised, reserved finish. This will need the better part of a decade to soften and start to drink well, but it should be a very good example of 2010 once it has had sufficient time in the cellar. 2020–60. 17.5/18