2010 Château Paveil-de-Luze

(roughly two-thirds cabernet sauvignon and one-third merlot): Good medium red-ruby. Black raspberry, mocha and nutty oak on the inviting nose. Pliant and suave on the palate, with good vinosity and sweetness to the flavors of raspberry and game. I liked the touch of leesy complexity here. Finishes with a fine dusting of tannins, no rough edges and noteworthy persistence. Delicious already.

With a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot, De Luze, who is the president of the Alliance des Cru Bourgeois, has produced a dense, ruby/purple-colored wine exhibiting notes of forest floor, spring flowers, blueberry, black raspberry and cassis. This wine looks even more impressive than the 2009, which was another terrific sleeper of the vintage. A superb cru bourgeois that behaves like a classified growth, this brilliant wine can be drunk early on because of its sweet tannin and low acidity, or cellared for 15 or more years. Bravo! This is an absolutely sensational wine from proprietor Frederick De Luze, from his beautiful estate in Soussans in the northern tier of Margaux. A member of the Alliance des Cru Bourgeois du Medoc.