John Gilman Château Magdelaine is probably my favorite estate in all Bordeaux. I adore the raciness that its profound bed of limestone produces in the wines after 30 or 40 years of bottle age. Some of the blend underwent malo in new barrels this year, which strikes me as a new phenomenon. The 2010 is a very ripe rendition of Magdelaine, and I wonder how this ripeness will translate down the road; it may be that this very well-balanced vintage of Magdelaine will always be a bit fruit-driven. The bouquet is very deep and quite black-fruity for young Magdelaine, offering up a complex melange of dark berries, black cherries, a touch of chocolate, fine minerality, fresh herbs, and St-Emilion nuttiness in the upper register. On the palate, the wine is deep, full-bodied, and quite voluptuous for this normally rather structured wine, with a sappy core of fruit, lovely soil drive on the back end, ripe substantial tannins, and very good length and grip on the finish. I may be underrating this a touch, since there is an awful lot of puppy fat to work through, and eventually a more assertive base of soil may emerge in this wine. 2022–60+. 17/17.5