Fully saturated ruby. Knockout aromas of fresh black cherry, blackcurrant, exotic herbs, coffee and menthol, plus a hint of minerality. Juicy, fruit-driven flavors of dark berries and cherry are complicated by cocoa, vanilla and graphite and given laser-like precision by vibrant, harmonious acidity. Manages to be both fleshy and acidic at the same time, demonstrating uncanny depth and complexity of flavor. This strikes me as deeper and longer than the already magnificent 2009: it may well turn out to be the wine of the vintage. These two wines from Petrus make for an outstanding, back-to-back pair of vintages.

Having once described the 2010 Petrus as a “force of nature”, this bottle offers no reason to alter that view. It is still blessed with that sensual, opulent bouquet that you might even mistake for the 2009, laden with black cherries, blueberry and exotic scents of marmalade and fig jam. Is it too much? I actually hope this ostentatiousness is just a childhood phase and there is something more profound that will develop during adulthood. The palate is beautifully balanced, just like the 2009, harmonious and focused, the intensity and concentration thankfully offset by its acidity. There is just a touch of warmth emanating from the alcohol on the finish. It is going to be an awesome Petrus, although whether it will surpass the previous vintage…we will have to wait ten years until both attain maturity. Tasted blind at a private lunch in Hong Kong.

This feels dense and unyielding now, with loads of grip supporting a dark, muscular and very backward core of bay leaf, tobacco, plum, blackberry and fig notes. Powerful, fresh and racy, with a tarry edge adding vivacity and drive to the lengthy, raspberry-dominated finish. The raspberry spine seems destined to win out after extended cellaring.

(14.5% alcohol; 100% merlot; 50% new oak) Good, fully saturated ruby. Complex, brooding nose offers aromas of ripe plum, blackberry jam, violet, cocoa syrup and Oriental spices; though deep and opulent, the nose is much less forward and exotic than either the 2008 or 2009. The palate offers outstanding intensity to the blackcurrant, cocoa and spice flavors, but this very densely packed Petrus manages to remain light on its feet. Saturates the entire mouth, finishing with very creamy tannins and great lift. A big wine that reminded me of the 1975. Jean-Claude Berrouet liked this comparison, noting that both vintages produced berries with the same thick skins, and wines with similar acidity levels, but pointed out that the 2010 is less accessible than the 1975 was at the same stage of development. There's also more alcohol in the 2010. Wine lovers with very deep pockets might want to take note that the '09 (the wine of that vintage, in my book) and '10 Petrus are this property's best back-to-back duo in some time. Ian D'Agata

At close to 14% alcohol, (which is high for Petrus) the wine offers intense aromas of chocolate, truffle, minerality, earth, blackberry essence, plum liqueur, blueberry, flowers and black cherry liqueur with kirsch accents. Offering a beautiful sensation of lift and purity along with decadent textures, polished, dark berries, plums, bitter chocolate, fresh cherries on the palate. Seamless and expansive, everything was balanced and in harmony. The finish remains in your mouth for one full minute! There were 3, polished spit buckets in the room. This was Petrus. I did the right thing and put that wine right where it belonged.

This a Petrus with extraordinary balance and depth. It shows such elegance in the nose with complexity of black olives, dark fruits, and flowers. The palate is full and ultra-velvety yet there is a cashmere quality to the texture. It takes your breath away. There's almost a Burgundian quality in the mouthfeel meaning it takes you deep into the soil and captivates your attention. Greatest modern vintage of Petrus ever? Try after 2018.

(35hl/ha, 14.5%) [100M] No Cabernet Franc any more, the half hectare of this having been grubbed up to make way for the new cellars. Very densely black fruit to smell, with a very marked minerality; rich, ample, powerful wine, fresh in acidity, firm and fine in tannin but with absolutely no asperity of texture, finely balanced in spite of the substantial proportions; an abundance of fruit and matter to taste, crisply ripe in flavour, very mineral infused and with an exceptional definition and purity considering its level of ripeness; tremendous tenacity of flavour and great fresh fruit perfumed length. You simply don’t notice the alcohol at all. Difficult to think of another vintage of Petrus that has this combination of density and definition. Memorable wine to taste, beautiful large scale elegance. Utterly, effortlessly regal. A long wait! 2030-60+ [M.Schuster, Bordeaux Mar/Apr 2011]

Deep garnet colored, the 2010 Petrus opens a little broody, with gentle crushed rocks, cast iron pan and fragrant earth notions giving way to a core plum preserves, baked blueberries, licorice and Black Forest cake plus wafts of pencil shavings, garrigue and violets. Full-bodied, the palate is beautifully poised with a firm line of exquisitely ripe, fine-grained tannins and fantastic freshness bolstering the generous fruit, finishing very long and very, very classy. Collectors fortunate enough to have a few bottles of this vintage are advised to be patient and allow it a further 7-10 years to loosen-up and emerge gloriously from this rock-solid structure. LPB

The harvest at Petrus took place between September 27 and October 12, and the 2010 finished at 14.1% natural alcohol, which is slightly lower than the 2009's 14.5%. The 2010 reminds me somewhat of the pre-1975 vintages of Petrus, a monster-in-the-making, with loads of mulberry, coffee, licorice and black cherry notes with an overlay of enormous amounts of glycerin and depth. Stunningly rich, full-bodied and more tannic and classic than the 2009, this is an awesome Petrus, but probably needs to be forgotten for 8-10 years. It should last at least another 50 or more.

Robert Parker (Wine Advocate #205, Feb 2013)