2010 Chateau Tourbadon Saint-Émilion Grand Cru 750 ml

One of 2010’s Last Great Saint-Émilion Bargains

The 2010 vintage on Bordeaux’s Right Bank would be the most astonishing of Robert Parker’s 30-year career, outpointing even the legendary 1982. In Pomerol and Saint-Émilion, flowering was irregular, the vines riding the seesaw, trimming yields by as much as 40%. While that would prove to be bad news for château balance sheets, it would all but guarantee exceptional quality in every bottle crafted with care. From top to bottom, the rigorously farmed estates on the Right Bank turned out astonishingly rich bottles, often infused with Napa-like concentration. But most importantly, as Parker was first to emphasize, all that ripeness was matched by unusually firm acidity, making for wildly opulent bottles that drink beautifully now, and will age gracefully for decades.

The heavyweights of that stupendous 2010 Bordeaux vintage — the 100-pointers from Petrus, Le Pin, and Cheval Blanc — made a beeline from Bordelais cellars to Chinese mansions the moment they were released. Bottles from Lafite and Mouton Rothschild can still be had today — for a few grand a pop. It was left to the bargain-hunters to discover that the finest deals of the vintage were among the extraordinary Right Bank releases. In particular, the tiny estates set on the limestone-strewn hillsides of St-Émilion left collectors frequently astonished.

Our exhaustive inventorying of the region has led us to sniff out some incredible bargains since the vintage hit the market. But with each passing year, those discoveries become less frequent and the bounties, troublingly smaller. Such was the case with our latest find, the stellar, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it estate of Château Tourbadon.

Located in the hilly farmlands of St.-Émilion, the charming château’s vineyards cover less than 30 acres, planted almost exclusively to Merlot. The wonderfully warm Pierre Ouzoulias — who also owns the acclaimed Château Franc-Pourret — was one of the first growers in all of Bordeaux to get his château certified organic, all the way back in 1989.

The vines are mature, averaging 50 years of age. The orientation provides for perfect south-southeast exposure. The soil, most importantly, is among the finest of the world-class appellation, rich in limestone and light clay. In 2009, the Ouzoulias team put out a beautiful wine — dark, rich, and forward, a release that swiveled heads all over the Libourne. But the 2010 harvest, the greatest Right Bank vintage in 30 years, has sent Château Tourbadon’s stock soaring.

The 2010 Château Tourbadon Grand Cru is 65% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc. Dark ruby/purple in color, the nose jumps from the glass with mouthwatering aromas of ripe black fruit, cassis, and sweet herbs. Dense and powerful on the attack, showing off a superb concentration packed with blackberry and raspberry, all buttressed by a marvelous 2010 Right Bank backbone.

At $19.99, this is hands-down among the greatest bargains of Saint-Émilion. The bad news? With a harvest of barely 2.5 tons per acre, only 800 bottles are up for grabs today. Shipping included on 6. Sorry, but we can’t promise we’ll score a bargain of this magnitude again anytime soon.