The 2010 Merlot Decima Aurea seems to have moved past the softness and plushness this French grape is known for. From the 2010 vintage, this wine has definitely lost all its baby fat, and what you get is somewhat stringy and astringent at its core. The wine ages in barrique for 14 months, showing dark plummy fruit surrounded by chewing tobacco and saddle leather, with precise aromas of smoke, tar and licorice. Given the already advanced age of this wine, I wouldn't wait too much longer to drink it, maybe with a pork and onion roast. Some 20,000 bottles were made.