2010 Clarendelle Bordeaux Blend is sold out.

Sign up to receive notifications when wines from this producer become available

Wine Bottle
  • 90 pts Wine Advocate
    90 pts RPWA
  • Curated by unrivaled experts
  • Choose your delivery date
  • Temperature controlled shipping options
  • Get credited back if a wine fails to impress

2010 Clarendelle Bordeaux Blend 750 ml

Sold Out

Sign up to receive notifications when wines from this producer become available.
  • Curated by unrivaled experts
  • Choose your delivery date
  • Temperature controlled shipping options
  • Get credited back if a wine fails to impress

Haut-Brion’s “Clarendelle” — Parker’s “Sleeper" of the 2010 Vintage

In 1934, American financier Clarence Dillon grew enamored of one of Bordeaux’s most celebrated vineyard properties, Château Haut-Brion. The world economy was still smarting from the Great Depression, and even the likes of Haut-Brion were struggling to make ends meet.

Just a year later, Mr. Dillon purportedly received a telegram informing him that the proprietor of Haut-Brion was preparing to put the château on the market. Dillon wasted no time. “Buy it,” he answered.

Since one of most opportunistic vineyard grabs in recent history, the Dillon family has turned out some unforgettable vintages, six of which earned 100 points from Robert Parker, Jr. The 1945 ($6,000/bottle) is still showing some life. The ethereal 1961 ($4,500/bottle), which measures around 12 degrees in alcohol, continues to surprise. Parker suggests that the hot-vintage 1989 ($1,600/bottle) won’t hit its peak until sometime in 2030! The 2005 ($1,000/bottle), which we were lucky enough to taste last June while in Bordeaux, is a landmark release that The Wine Advocate described as a “tour de force.”

But if you were to ask the family which growing season gave birth to the most extraordinary Haut-Brion of the last 75 years, the answer is all but a no-brainer. In 2010, the highest-rated vintage in the history of Wine Spectator AND The Wine Advocate, Haut-Brion shined like never before, earning a 200+ word, 100-point review in which Parker argues eloquently for a 75-year tasting window!

If the 2010 Château Haut-Brion is considered by many to be the wine of the vintage, it would be the Dillon family’s second wine, the 2010 Clarendelle ($32/bottle), that ranks among the most remarkable bargains of 2010. Crafted by Haut-Brion’s Jean-Philippe Delmas — the son of Jean-Bernard Delmas, who made all the Haut-Brions between 1959 and 2003, and grandson of Georges, who made them back through the 1920s — this luscious blend is an assemblage of broad-shouldered Cabernet Sauvignon, plump and juicy Merlot, and floral Cabernet Franc.

Deep purple to the rim, infused with sumptuous aromas of crushed black and red fruits, sweet spice, and underbrush. Rich and weighty on the attack, filled with what The Wine Advocate described as “lots of red and black currant fruit, licorice (and) spice,” finishing with elegant, dusty tannins that argue gracefully for a decade of cellar slumber.

The Wine Advocate called the 2010 Clarendelle the “major sleeper of the vintage.” At today’s price of just $19.50, it may well be the most extraordinary, top-pedigree, under-$20 bottle ever proposed on WineAccess. 200 cases. Shipping included on 6. NOT TO BE MISSED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!!!