Margaux 2005 Ex-Chateau (1.5L)

100 JS / 100 WA / 100 JD / 99 VM / 99 DE / 99 WCI / 98 WI / 98 WE / 97 WS / 19.5 JR

The nose on this seems more concentrated than the 2000, and the purity of fruit is stunning, with blueberries, raspberries, fresh flowers, and hints of licorice. This is perfect and complete. Full bodied, with notes of forest berries and wild raspberries, this is thick and velvety with perfectly polished tannins. You can really feel the density on this, more than the tannic structure. This is a sleeping beauty that will be utterly captivating when it awakes. Don't touch this until after 2015. - James Suckling

Tasted single blind at Southwold. The crystalline nose here is primal, backward, takes some coaxing from the glass: blackberry, bilberry, briary, graphite and a spellbinding sense of mineralite. The palate is beautifully balanced with svelte tannins. Touches of sandalwood inflecting the pure fruit, deftly integrated new oak; incredible length once again. Despite the vice-like grip on the finish there is a feminine quality to this wine. Quite simply: it takes your breath away. Perfection. Drink 2015-2040+ Tasted January 2009. - Neal Martin, Wine Advocate

An another level, the 2005 Château Margaux is as good as it gets, offering an incredible, full-bodied, layered style as well as the classic nuance, complexity, and elegance this Château is known for. Based on 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot raised in new barrels, its still youthful ruby/purple hue is followed by a kaleidoscope-like array of cassis, smoked currants, cedar pencil, spring flowers, and graphite. With incredible concentration, a multi-dimensional, layered mouthfeel, loads of ripe yet perfectly integrated tannins, and a finish that makes you salivate, this insanely good Margaux is just now at the early stages of its prime drinking window and has another 30 years of prime drinking ahead of it. Legendry juice. 04/2024.--Jeb Dunnuck

From the moment it is opened, the 2005 Margaux takes things to another level. The bouquet alone is breathtaking in its beauty. Bright, delineated but also explosive, the 2005 takes hold of all the senses and never lets up. The flavors are vibrant and focused, with gorgeous lift and precision. The 2005 is a riveting, aristocratic Margaux that will drink well for several decades. Today the flavors are still remarkably youthful. The wine drinks well because of its magnificent balance, but readers who prefer more aromatic and flavor complexity will want to wait for at least another five years. No matter how you look at it, the 2005 Margaux is pure magic. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

The famed Château Margaux is a 1er cru classé, first growth property, in Bordeaux. The 2005 vintage was heralded as a 5 star year. Château Margaux upped their Cabernet Sauvignon proportion of the blend in 2005 to 85%. If I have to pick my favourite wine from the wonderful 2005 vintage, this one certainly comes very close. Rich plum purple colours in the glass, just softening around the edges. Attractive just-starting-to-age claret aromas on the nose – liquorice, black truffles and soft black fruits, all carried through on to the palate, has all of the looked-for elements in play. Great plush texture, lovely balance of acidity, tannins and fruit, love the complexity and it really lingers on the palate, impressive persistency. Outstanding for me, great Margaux typicity. - Jane Anson, Decanter

The 2005 Chateau Margaux is a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot. Deep garnet-brick in color, it reveals an earthy nose redolent of crushed rocks, tilled soil, and truffles over a kirsch and creme de cassis core with floral notes coming through. The medium to full-bodied palate is elegant and perfumed, with soft, velvety tannins, finishing long and layered. Perfumed, layered, and approachable now, it is within its ideal drinking window, and will continue to drink well through 2047. In 2003, Corinne Mentzelopoulos bought back the majority stake and became the controlling shareholder of Chateau Margaux. This 2005 was made by Paul Pontallier. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Independent

Still very tight, but there are whispers of alder, bay leaf, tobacco and singed sandalwood aromas here. They give way to a beautifully silky and refined, but extremely concentrated, core of cassis and blackberry fruit that has gained a lightly mulled hint. The long finish shows echoes of dark earth and iron that bring you back for more. A beauty, with a long way to go.—Blind '01/'03/'05 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2017). Best from 2025 through 2045. - James Molesworth, Wine Spectator