100 RP This brilliant, blue/black-hued offering reveals an extraordinarily youthful, but promising nose of incense, blueberries, blackberries, currants, licorice, and crushed rocks. This intense 2005 boasts powerful,...
91 RP/92 WA While no one will confuse the 2005 with this estates prodigious 1990, it is an outstanding effort from one of St.-Emilions finest terroirs. In terms of potential, the vineyard is exceeded only by Ausone, Pavie...
93 BH Tasting note: This is the most elegant and refined wine in the range and while the nose is presently rather reserved, it offers notes of clove, anise, white flower and green apple that complement to perfection the...
96+ RP This small jewel of a property owned by the Garcin family has been making great wine for a number of years, with the only problem being its very limited availability. Their beautifully deep 2005 has a dark purple...
96 WA / 94 JS / 93 WS The Chateau Canon 2005 has a more complex nose than the Clos Fourtet tasted alongside. It is tightly wound at first with black cherries and dried violet petals, terracotta tiles and brown spices. The...
90 WS Black currant and violet notes on the nose, with a good dose of slightly charred oak, follow through to a full body, with fine tannins and a long, vanilla-colored finish. There's lots of oak, but also lots of fruit...
96-98 RP / 95 WS Of course, Michel Chapoutier produces some very limited spectacular dessert wines. The 2005 Ermitage Vin de Paille has a dark amber color, much more noticeable acidity than the 2004, but tastes as unctuous,...
97 WA / 96 DE / 95 WS / 94+ VM Tasted blind at the 10-Year On Tasting in Sauternes. The 2005 Chteau Climens just soars from the glass with layers of clear honey, marmalade, nectarine and minerals all beautifully carved...
98 WS / 95 RP / 95 VM Really tight now, but packed with dark fig, currant, espresso, licorice and chocolate notes. Superfleshy but seriously structured, theres layer after layer of sweet spice, fruit and minerality pumping...
98 WS / 95 WA / 95 VM Really tight now, but packed with dark fig, currant, espresso, licorice and chocolate notes. Superfleshy but seriously structured, theres layer after layer of sweet spice, fruit and minerality pumping...
98 WA / 97 RP / 97 DE The 2005 Cos d'Estournel is blended of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet colored, it is still a little closed and youthfully shy. With coaxing, the nose is just...
90 WE Made with 80% Malvasia-Trebbiano and 20% Sangiovese, this classic Tuscan dessert wine conveys aromas of pastry and nut. The palate delivers chestnut honey, dried apricot, citrus zest and a smooth, lingering finish. -...
100 WA / 100 RP / 99 WS The 2005 Cote Rotie la Turque is utterly profound, and a desert island wine if there ever was one. Crème de cassis, blackcurrants, chocolate, barbecued meats and bacon fat all literally...
100 RP The mineral-laced 2005 Haut Brion (56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc) is exquisite. With its elegance and finesse, it is not as powerful as La Mission, but the nobility and complexity of the...
100 RP / 100 AG The mineral-laced 2005 Haut Brion (56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc) is exquisite. With its elegance and finesse, it is not as powerful as La Mission, but the nobility and complexity...
98 JS / 96 VM / 95 WA From a duo of Avize Grand Cru parcels, this has a stunning sense of purity about it and is truly driven by terroir with gentle complexity to the élevage. The lemon, grapefruit, and...
100 RP / 99 JS The 2005 La Mission Haut-Brion is pure perfection. It has an absolutely extraordinary nose of sweet blackberries, cassis and spring flowers with some underlying minerality, a full-bodied mouthfeel, gorgeously...
98 WS While the 2005 is another brilliantly classic Lafite Rothschild, for my taste, it comes in slightly behind their extraordinarily opulent 2003 as well as the dramatically powerful 2000. A blend of 89% Cabernet...
100 DE This stunning wine is still extremely young, with an amazingly expressive nose with tea leaf hints. The aromatics keep building and building in the glass, and the elegance and persistency shine through. This was a...
100 RP / 96 VM With an unbelievable nose of licorice, tapenade, black cherry and blackcurrant liqueur, as well as full body, super-sweet tannin, and astonishing richness and length, this prodigious effort in 2005 announced...
100 RP / 95+ AG With an unbelievable nose of licorice, tapenade, black cherry and blackcurrant liqueur, as well as full body, super-sweet tannin, and astonishing richness and length, this prodigious effort in 2005 announced...
91 WA / 90 RP / 89-91 WS Tasted blind at the 2005 Southwold tasting, the 2005 Larrivet Haut Brion Blanc has a lovely resinous, lightly honeyed bouquet with hints of toffee apple and nutmeg with just a touch of...
99 WS Only 44% of the production made it into the dense ruby/purple-hued 2005 Latour, a powerful, backward, 12,000-case blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Petit Verdot and Merlot. As I wrote last year, this classic...
100 JS / 98 RP / 98 VM A very complex nose of lavender, currants, spices, and hot stones. Full and dense on the palate, with a very tight structure. The tannins have a perfect polish to their density, and the finish is very...
98 RP A sensational effort, Tertre Roteboeuf's 2005, along with the 2000, is one of the most profound wines made by Francois Mitjavile. A dense ruby/purple color is followed by a stunning perfume of sweet black currants,...
95 WA / 94 JS / 93 RP / 93 VM The Chteau L'oville-Poyferr' 2005 has a rich and opulent bouquet with lavish ripe black cherries and wild strawberry, just a touch of licorice rendering its even more extravagant. The palate...
94 JS / 93 RP / 92 VM Very classy with plenty of raspberry, currant, and licorice character. This is dense and compacted on the palate. Leave it for at least two or three years from now. Tasted April 2012. James...
98 WA Deep garnet-brick colored, the 2005 Carnival of Love displays a more earthy, meaty, gamey character with plenty of coffee and damp loam aromas fused with smoked bacon, some iron ore, Chinese plums, a little floral...
96 JS / 96 WA This continues to be very tight yet I loved drinking it the other night at dinner. Loads of spices, berries, meat, cloves and chocolate on the nose. Full body with soft, silky tannins and lots of rich fruit...
99+ RP / 98 JS The 2005 Mouton-Rothschild has developed magnificently, and is even better than I remember. The final blend was 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc. Stunning notes of cr¬me de cassis,...
96 JS A complete and sexy wine with very polished and refined tannins yet there’s an energy and posture that gives the wine such intrigue. Buy it. - James...
100 RP / 100 JD Gérard Perse believes this is the greatest Pavie he’s made to date, although certainly I would argue that list includes the 2000, as well as the 2009 and 2010, among his superstars. This wine,...
96-100 RP
98 JD / 96+ RP / 96 WS / 95+ VM A blend of 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, from a cool limestone terroir on the plateau, the 2005 Château Pavie Macquin is extraordinary juice, and the finest...
95 WA / 93 JS The Château Pichon-Lalande 2005 that was so divisive at birth but as I expected right from the beginning, this is maturing into a lovely Pauillac. It offers compelling tobacco and graphite scents on the...
96 RP The 2005 Shiraz Heysen is a blend of three vineyards. It was aged in 40% new French oak, 20% new American oak, and the balance neutral French. The nose reveals wood smoke, toast, game, bacon, blueberry, and blackberry...
Château Simard has an enviable address on the sunny southern slopes of Saint-Émilion. Surrounded by the region’s first growth vineyards, Château Simard’s vineyard has excellent exposure and...
97 JS / 94 WA / 17.5 JR What a wine for the vintage, with spices and furniture wax undertones, then dried citrus fruit. Great intensity in this, powerful stuff. Perhaps the best 2005. - James Suckling Tasted single blind...
96-97 WA The Esmonin 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin Clos St-Jacques – unsurprisingly, incorporating virtually 100% whole cluster and new wood – bursts from the glass with scents of soy, aromatic woods, ripe black...
97 WS / 95 WA This focused SGN is tightly knit, blending threads of flavor and structure into a wine that\'s elegant overall. Weaves streamlined, racy acidity with layers of dried papaya, macerated peach, briny mineral and...
97 WS the 2005 Vieux Chateau Certan (a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc) reveals an inky/blue/purple color along with a rich, sumptuous perfume of black olives, lavender, roasted herbs, licorice, pain grille, and...
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