France: Château Duhart-Milon 2010, Grand Cru Classé, Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite), Pauillac, Bordeaux (BCorp Sustainable)

*THIS WINE IS CURRENTLY HELD UNDER BOND SO DELIVERY LEAD TIME WOULD BE 7 TO 14 DAYS*

73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot. 13.5%. Perfectly cellared at Octavian since its release from the château in 2013, so this wine has perfect provenance. 

2010 was an incredible vintage for Bordeaux, one of the very best there has ever been, some say possibly the best ever. Given the significantly less lauded 2017 vintage is trading at around £75-£85 per bottle, this legendary 2010 (see the notes from the critics below) is really well priced - plus it is drinking well now, albeit with plenty of life left. A magnificent wine for a special occasion!

Château Duhart-Milon, classified as a 4ème Cru Classé (4th growth), is owned by the Rothschild family and is made by the same team that is responsible for the eye-wateringly expensive first growth Château Lafite (close to £1,000 a bottle for the 2010). Indeed Duhart-Milon's 175 acres of vineyard - planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc - borders Château Lafite. 

It is thus one of the finest wines of Bordeaux - if one adheres to the 1855 classification of left bank Bordeaux producers, then only 33 châteaux are 'better' than Duhart-Milon.

But in truth, Duhart-Milon often produces a more profound wine than many of these and in some vintages, such as 2010, gets very close to the quality produced by the first growths (but costs a GREAT deal less) - renowned critic Robert Parker refers to it being "a dead ringer for Lafite in a great vintage" - the first growths being Lafite, Latour, Mouton Rothschild, Margaux and Haut-Brion (the latter being the odd one out as it is just to the south of the city of Bordeaux - its vineyard actually sandwiched rather strangely within the city's residential area - rather than to the north-west of the city as are the others). Like Duhart-Milon, three of the first growths are in Pauillac. 

Being BCorp certified, Duhart-Milon is part of a global community of businesses that meet high standards of social and environmental impact.

What the experts say:

96 points, Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (Tasted in 2013): "Dense purple, with classic notes of cedar and lead pencil shavings as well as gobs of black currants and licorice, the wine has a full-bodied mouthfeel with fabulous precision and density. It also possesses a long, silky finish with moderately high tannins, but they are ripe and well-integrated. The wood is clearly pushed to the background in this dense, full-bodied Pauillac, which should drink beautifully for 30+ years.

If you can't afford Lafite-Rothschild (few can) or even their second wine, Carruades de Lafite, you still have Duhart-Milon, which has become a profound wine over the last 5-7 years due to the extensive amount of attention and investment the Rothschilds have pumped into this estate. This blend of 73% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot is fabulous, a dead ringer for Lafite in a great vintage. (It is probably better than many of the Lafites of the 1960s and 1970s, and even some of the vintages in the 1980s.) Drink 2013 - 2043."

18 points ("A Cut Above Superior, 93-94 points on the 100-point scale), Stephen Spurrier, Decanter.com: "Concentrated black fruits, powerful yet lifted, structured and long term elegance, a great Duhart. Drink 2020-35."