Farr Vintners Logo

Batailley 2010

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Pauillac
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyCabernet Sauvignon/Merlot

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château Batailley

Label

Tasting Notes

The 2010 Batailley has a vivacious, outgoing and quintessentially Pauillac nose with blackberry, mint and graphite bursting from the glass and demanding attention! The palate is medium-bodied with ample black fruit laced with graphite, sage and cracked black pepper. Wonderful depth and grip here, fanning out nicely towards the finish where there is a soupçon of oak still to be subsumed, therefore give this another three or four years. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners 10-Year On Bordeaux horizontal. Drink 2024 - 2050.

94
Neal Martin, vinous.com, April 2020

Made in a more charming style than the normally backward, rather formidably tannic wines of Batailley, this 2010 is an endearing, elegant wine, but it has no shortage of power, richness and intensity. It displays loads of beautiful cassis, cedar and Christmas fruitcake notes along with impressive purity, texture and a full-bodied mouthfeel. Usually much more austere, this vintage seems to have produced a richer, more layered and opulent style of Batailley that can be approached in 3-5 years and consumed over the following 25 years.

92
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (205), March 2013

The 2010 Batailley has really opened up over the last 18 months and is now drinking beautifully. Still a deep colour in the glass with a slightly garnet rim, it has a layered nose of blackcurrant and dark plum fruit set against a blend of savoury leather and tobacco, together with sweeter wood spice and clove. The palate is bright with acidity, matching ripe black fruit and more toasted sweet spices. The tannins are now yielding, overtaken by fruit intensity to make for a moreish, balanced structure. The grip and freshness will give this wine decades more ageing potential, but that softened grip makes it delicious to drink now. Dark spices and fruit build through the mid palate, with meaty tones adding complexity and balancing the now integrated new oak. A very long finish rounds off this superb Batailley, which is excellent value for money in ready-to-drink great vintage.

93+
Thomas Parker MW, Farr Vintners, July 2023

Aromas of freshly sliced mushrooms and dark fruits. Full body, with an incredible depth of fruit and finesse here. The tannins are amazing quality. Love the texture. Give it four to five years of bottle age.

94
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, February 2013

Deep garnet in color, the 2010 Batailley starts off quite cedary/oaky, opening out to reveal notes of preserved plums, blackcurrant cordial and new leather with touches of pencil shavings and bay leaves. Full-bodied, the palate has a rock-solid structure of firm, chewy tannins and loads of freshness framing the herb-sparked black fruit, finishing a little firm. 2020 - 2033

90
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (March 2020), March 2020

16.5 Drink 2020-2030
Tasted 17 Feb: Very dark purple. Very dark purple elderberry notes. Sweet and round and a bit of spice. Lots of fine tannin.
Tasted blind 8 Apr: Bright, deep purplish crimson. Ripe fruit with a slight smoky note. Very sweet and fluid. Not the most concentrated but a good example that you really can't go too wrong with Pauillac 2010. Just a tiny bit of green on the finish. But super clean and fresh. (Score: 16.5 18-28)

16.5
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2011

A well situated vineyard in Pauillac that can be relied upon to produce a decent wine at a fair price. 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot with a little Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, elevage in 55% new oak. Medium weight wine that has a smoky Medocain nose. Nicely balanced with forward, ripe Cabernet fruit. Rounded tannins and attractive cedar and spice. Polished and balanced, quietly classy. Proper claret.

92
Farr Vintners, April 2011

The nose has some rich black fruit and the sweetness of the fruit gives power on the palate. Under the richness there are fresher flavours balancing with structured tannins showing on the back palate.

89/93
Derek Smedley MW, April 2011
95
Tim Atkin MW, timatkin.com, April 2011

Deep, slightly smoky cassis fruit and a touch of violets, full rather meaty flavours, both roundness and depth from this very reliable château. Drink 2018-28.

17
Steven Spurrier, Decanter.com, April 2011
Read more tasting notes...

The 2010 Batailley repeated its magnificent showing when poured at the château. It has a detailed bouquet of blackberry and cedar, quite backward and seemingly having advanced little since I tasted it in April 2016. The palate remains full of tension and brimming with energy, delivering classic cedar and tobacco notes toward the persistent finish. Batailley can produce wines that live many decades, and this is clearly one of them. Tasted at the property. Drink 2020-2050.

95
Neal Martin, vinous.com, December 2019

Tasted blind at the Southwold Bordeaux 2010 tasting. A strong performance from Batailley under blind conditions, easily surpassing its showing at the UGC in London last year. The 2010 has a very elegant bouquet with blackberry, cedar and leather, well defined and very nicely focused, though not the most vigorous amongst its peers. The palate is very well balanced with filigree tannins, perfectly judged acidity and a very appealing "classic" style of Pauillac very the top drawer. What a superb Pauillac - a benchmark Batailley. Tasted January 2014.

95
Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, February 2014

Tasted at the Batailley vertical tasting the château, the 2010 Batailley may well have been the best wine in a tasting that encompassed three centuries of winemaking at the estate. The nose offers outstanding delineation and mineralité. It positively fizzes in the glass with all that coiled-up energy, ladling out vivid blackberry and cedar aromas. The palate is medium-bodied, but it is the detail and precision that achieves a level that makes the 2010 a benchmark for the Pauillac estate. It sashays towards a tensile, tar and graphite-tinged finish that lingers in the mouth. This is destined for long-term aging insofar that its quality will not be widely appreciated for many years. Tasted April 2016. Drink 2025 - 2060

95
Neal Martin, Wine Advocate (231), June 2017

Elegant crushed rock, red and black currant, spice box and earth notes result in a classic Pauillac to smell and taste. Dark ruby/purple-colored, slightly austere because of the robust tannins, beautifully pure and built for the long haul, patience of 5-7 years will be required and this 2010 should keep for 25+ years.

89/91+
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (194), May 2011

Tasted at the Union de Grand Cru in London. The Batailley 2010 has a vibrant lifted bouquet with blackberry, hints of black olive, cedar and a pinch of bay leaf. It is very precise and shows good attack. The palate is quite fleshy and succulent on the entry, perhaps belying the firm backbone underneath. It fans out beautifully towards the spicy finish, making this a superb Batailley that challenges the supremacy of the 2009. Excellent. Tasted November 2012.

92
Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, February 2013

A blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon (compared to 74% in 2009), 19% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc cropped at 36hl/ha. Philippe Casteja said that they picked quite late, the last Cabernet coming in on the 19th October (about three days later than in 2009.) The alcohol level comes in at 13.5 degrees. The Batailley '10 has quite a creamy, sensual bouquet with macerated black fruits, a touch of crushed raspberry and a hint of vanilla pod. The definition is very fine. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, tensile tannins, a very good sense of symmetry that was discovered with the 2009, with the vintages telltale signs of graphite on the long finish. Very impressive. Quintessential Pauillac. Tasted April 2011.

93/95
Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, April 2011

This really takes off on the finish. So long with a beautiful pure Cabernet Sauvignon character that has masses of currants and berries. Raspberries too and then turns to mineral. 78 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 19 percent Merlot, 2 percent Petit Verdot, and 1 percent Cabernet Franc

92/93
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, March 2011
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.