The MW Institute lined up sixteen leading St Emilion chateaux from the 2010 vintage last November, a small but revealing snapshot of the region’s wines. The best had attractive texture and exhibited lots of fruit, weight, extract and tannin. Some were giddy with alcohol. Overall the elements certainly feel denser in the glass in 2010 than in 2009. The vintage also feels a little closed by comparison with a similar line-up to last year, and there is perhaps more chew to the tannins than in ’09 too. Top of the group for me were Clos Fourtet, Château Belair Monange and Château Larcis Ducasse. Château Angélus, Château Cheval Blanc, Château Figeac, Château Pavie Macquin, Château Canon and Château Canon-la-Gaffelière are also impressive. There were also beautifully glossy efforts from Château Berliquet, Château Grand Corbin and Château La Tour Figeac.

St Emilion proves a difficult appellation to generalize about in 2009. Clearly some truly great wines have been made here. Angélus, Cheval Blanc, Figeac and Belair Monange are absolute beauties. Many other properties have made forward and delicious wine but quite a few remain as thick, ponderous and extracted as they did early on. Maybe this is as it always is in St Emilion.

I think St Emilion has made a good fist of 2008. There’s plenty to enjoy in a lot of the wines if you can get past the winemaking in some cases – unless you’ve a fondness for treacle and liquorice. The best here are full and generally have plenty of fruit and no shortage of ripe tannin. There are quite a few who seem to like to make their wines super-ripe and super-reduced – wines of staggering concentration without regard for drink-ability – though the modesty of the vintage has largely kept things in check.

Vineyards at Chateau Beau-Séjour Bécot in St Emilion

The wines of St Emilion felt less promising than I remember tasting a couple of years back in 2009 at UGC. Again dryness to the tannins here and a forced/overly worked style of winemaking seemed the main [and considerable] drawback. That said a few looked pretty good and had harmony and balance. Others too thick and extracted. Those that opted for elegance over extraction have fared the lest, like Chateau Figeac, as usual, and Chateau Canon and Chateau Magdelaine.