Essence De Dourthe 2010 Wine Review

Essence De Dourthe 2010

Bordeaux, France

Community Score:94/100

Community Reviews: 12

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Price: $300.00

Drink: 2018-2035

Bottle size: 750 ml

Alcohol: 13.5%

Sweetness: Extra Dry

Wine Type: Red Wine

Winery: Essence De Dourthe

Agent: Philippe Dandurand Wines Ltd.

Natalie's Score: 98/100

I'm running out of superlatives for this wine: it's a blockbuster with everything, complexity, depth, length and finesse. It's actually made from a blend of grapes in various Bordeaux regions that are not usually blended together. The strategy is to showcase the very best of what each Bordeaux terroir can product such as Merlot from St Emilion, Cabernet Sauvignon from Medoc and so on. Think of it as a Super Tuscan that's Bordeaux bred. This is why you won't see a appellation designation on the bottle: it rises above them all to become something in and of itself.

This Essence De Dourthe 2010 was reviewed on April 26, 2017 by Natalie MacLean

More Vintages: 2001

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Pricing & Stock Information

LCBO
653261
$300.00
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Reviews and Ratings

Jane Staples - Certified Sommelier rated this wine as 97/100 with the following review:

Joy in a glass. Not made every year, only when conditions are optimal, using the best grapes selected from the best Dourthe estates, blended from Cab Franc, Cab Sauv, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Fragrant and harmonious, subtle, with complex layers of flavour and a dreamy finish. Lucky to have tasted the 2010. The winemaker calls it a "Super-Bordeaux". Tasted with Frédéric Bonnafous, Head Winemaker for the Bordeaux estates of Dourthe, April 2017

Sylvain Segard rated this wine as 97/100 with the following review:

"Essence de Dourthe" as the name implies is a wine designed to capture the very essence of the best that Bordeaux as to offer. It is also the vanity label of 'Groupe Vignobles Dourthe', which on the most remarkable vintage years will mandate its best winemakers to select only the best grapes, best crus, best vinification practices, best barrels etc. in order to produce the top most wine within each of the Dourthe's collective of Bordeaux wineries. These premium wines from different Bordeaux terrors are then subjected to rigorous in-house tasting and blending panels to assemble a unique blend for that privileged vintage. The result is what some have called a "Super-Bordeaux", in the fashion of a SuperTuscan or the elite wine partnerships, such as Opus One.

Whatever you wish to name this unorthodox premium French Bordeaux, it is sublime! The 2010 blend of Essence de Dourthe is sourced from four Châteaux -- La Garde, Le Boscq, Belgrave, and Lamarzelle. A mere 500 cases were produced for the 2010 vintage and, of that, only 10 cases are destined for Canada in Fall 2017.

This wine is opaque and pitch black with a garnet rim. After decanting or about one hour, the aroma was intense and complex with abundant ripe red cherries and black currant, plums, figs, olives, cigar box, and spearmint. Full bodied, yet supple and elegant mouthfeel with well-rounded and silky tannins and a superbly balanced juicy and vibrant acidity. The extended finish keeps your mouth watering with layered black fruits and leaves in need of one more sip! Art in bottle. Score 97. (S.Segard, reviewed April 2017)

David Skinner rated this wine as 96/100 with the following review:

Deeply concentrated dark garnet. Complex nose with dark cherry, cassis, cedar, cocoa and spices intermingling without any one aroma burying another. This wine really opens up with decanting and is a feast for the senses. Great flavors of plum, fig, sour cherry and blackberry woven into a well-balanced blend of supple tannins and juicy acidity. Full bodied and an astonishingly long finish that keeps on featuring everything the wine initially offers.

Save this beauty for a special occasion and a special dish like tournedos rossini.

Matt Steeves - Certified Sommelier rated this wine as 96/100 with the following review:

Since it's inception in the iconic 2000 vintage, Essence de Dourthe has been produced only in the most exceptional years, taking the best grapes from the best vineyards in the best appellations throughout Bordeaux. Their motto to produce Essence is using the best of the best of the best at any cost. Nothing but the best to make the best, and when you taste the result you instantly appreciate how their efforts have paid off; it's absolutely sublime! This ultra low production premium Bordeaux is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot from Dourthe's finest vineyards. Essence shows richness with great elegance, depth of flavour with exceptional balance, immediate approachability and long term cellar potential. It's packed with sweet dark fruit and spice, cigar box, fine Italian leather, and savory notes that stimulate the senses like no other. With a few years of bottle age, the 2010 is showing beautifully now and given its structure it will continue to shine over the next three decades. With only 6,000 bottles produced, it may be difficult to find this ultra-premium Bordeaux but if you can I'd highly recommend buying whatever you can. Tasted April 2017. 96-98 points. Matt Steeves - www.quercusvino.ca

Lynn van der Linde - Certified Sommelier rated this wine as 95/100 with the following review:

The Pièce De Résistance of Bordeaux, the 2010 Essence de Dourthe is a carte blanche for the Dourthe winemaking team to pluck the best of the best Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot grapes from some of the most esteemed Dourthe estates.

Intoxicating aromas of dark fruits, eucalyptus and oak, it epitomizes the best of what Bordeaux has to offer. With only six thousand bottles produced each year, and only one hundred and twenty of those making their way to Canada in 2017, if you have the means to snag a bottle or two you are in for a wild ride.
Tasted April 2017.

Andrew Bernardo rated this wine as 95/100 with the following review:

A "super" blend from everywhere. This wine shows cassis, plum, pie crust, Applewood, graphite, tar, smoke, fresh tobacco and crushed flowers. This is liquid silk. 95 points. (www.ottawawinejournal.com)

Simon Chen rated this wine as 94/100 with the following review:

Tasted at the Dourthe luncheon - May I call this 'super bordeaux'? The winemaker blended the best grape varietals from different regions of bordeaux and made this amazing wine. Silky texture and a hint of chocolate and coffee flavor. 60 sec+ finish but smooth and lingering. Grab a bottle if you can find it. Will taste even better after 10 years

Pamela Chiles rated this wine as 92/100 with the following review:

Aromas virtually explode from the glass - a cascade of black berries, plum, prune, fresh cigar, leather, spice. Splendid and (can I say it?) voluptuous on the palate, beautifully structured with velvety tannins and a looong finish. Lots of age left, so put a couple aside if you can get your hands on some and your pocketbook allows.

Greg Hughes rated this wine as 91/100 with the following review:

This wine is the pride and joy of the Vignobles Dourthe profile. It's a New World approach of focusing in on the best grown grapes sourced from all over Bordeaux, from their varied estate holdings. The result is meant to be a combination of the best Bordeaux grapes from the places they grow best.
Pretty hedonistic and likely to do well in a North American market.
The colour is a glass-coating deep ruby, with a bit of bricking.
Loads of dark, juicy fruit aromas. Some roasty coffee notes too. Fig jam, olive tapenade, underbrush, cigar box, and coca powder.
Great flavours of dark chocolate, damson, Christmas cake, pipe tobacco, mint, blackberry, cassis jam, and black cherry.
This one came from Château Belgrave (Haut Medoc), Château Le Boscq (St. Estephe), Château La Garde (Pessac Leognan), and Château Grand Barrail Lamarzelle Figeac (St.Emilion Grand Cru). Mostly Merlot and Cab Sauv, with a dash of Franc and Verdot.
They spared no expense. No cost ceiling, according to them. They asked their vignerons to help construct the best quality wine they could, from the constituent grapes.
They only make this on good vintages. The 2010 one is obviously pretty dense, considering how awesome a vintage that was.
Dense and ageworthy. Drink it now, or in five to ten years. Put it alongside fresh figs, dates, and Beemster.

Cora Beaulieu rated this wine as 91/100 with the following review:

Essence de Dourthe 2010 a vintage where the Dourthe oenologists and their teams were given carte blanch to produce the finest possible grapes from the best parcels of 4 of their estates (Château Belgrave, Château Le Boscq, Château La Garde, Château Grand Barrail Lamarzelle Figeac.) The result is a tremendous showcase of their abilities and skills for blending. New oak, unique, ripe red fruit, full-on chocolate and caramel characteristics. With hints of vanilla, sandalwood, and black pepper notes. Big round tannins but well integrated and harmonious. Serve with juicy, seared rare steak. [Tasted April 2017]

Melanie Aubert rated this wine as 90/100 with the following review:

If Tuscany has “super Tuscans”, this wine is intended to be the “super Bordeaux”, i.e. the crème de la crème of Bordeaux. The winemaker introduced this as “the best wine of all the Dourthe estates”. Made from the best grapes, Bonnafous masterfully blends the varietals and terroirs of the various châteaux: cab franc from St. Emilion, merlot from St. Estèphe, petit verdot from Château Le Boscq, and cabernet sauvignon from the left bank, which makes up 65% of this vintage’s blend. After 20 months of ageing, and 2 hours in the decanter, this wine was quite soft on the palate, with beautiful notes of black cherry, plum, smoke, cedar and spice. Not sure I would pay $195 for it, but I was more than happy to taste it!

Get the whole story at https://winingwithmel.com/2017/04/16/intro-to-bordeaux-dourthe/

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Essence De Dourthe 2010 Wine Review

Natalie's Score: 98/100

Pricing & Stock Information