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This is almost the perfect time to drink this wine, although it still needs decanting to bring out the plush strokes of fruit. Aromatically, it majors on cassis, liquorice, cedar and patisserie. This is a lovely wine, a classic Pauillac that is not overly intense and retains a sense of juiciness. Of the three Pauillac estates tasted here, this 2005 is the one to open today. Drinking Window 2017 - 2028Decanter | 92 DECVery pure black currant fruits pour out of the glass with this wine. Yes, there are tannins, but the fruit is uplifting, fresh and very vibrant. Delicious, and likely to remain so.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WELocated in the north of Pauillac, between Mouton and Pontet-Canet, this 123-acre estate is also part of G.F.A. Baronne Philippine de Rothschild. The aroma balances meaty fruit and mineral scents, and while the pungent red fruit is always there, the tannins seem to increase their intensity with air. They cover the pure black cherry flavor like a powerful skin, deep and plush with an iron-knuckle punch. The tannins don’t go away, but their inner velvet eventually wins out. This has improved significantly since the en primeur tastings and will continue to evolve for ten to 15 years in the bottle.Wine & Spirits | 92 W&SThe 2005 d’Armailhac is in a gorgeous spot today. Early signs of aromatic nuance have started to develop, but the 2005 has at least a handful of years of fine drinking ahead of it. Quite frankly, I am surprised how fresh the 2005 is. Dried flowers, cedar, mint, pipe tobacco and sweet red toned fruit are all very nicely delineated. Readers looking for an affordable, mature Claret to drink now will find much to like.Vinous Media | 91 VMD’Armailhac’s 2005 offers notes of cedar wood, forest floor, black and red currants, spice box and earth. It is medium-bodied, relatively soft for a 2005, and best drunk over the next 12-15 years.Robert Parker | 90 RPExhibits blackberry, currant and licorice on the nose. Full and velvety, with plenty of good fruit. A balanced, fruity red. Best after 2012.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

(Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair Nuits St.-Georges Les St. Georges 1er Cru Red) This is primary to the point of being overtly grapey with an interesting mix of intense earth and game nuances that merge into solidly structured middle weight flavors that possess outstanding length and real depth. As good as the Petits Monts is, there is another dimension here. (Drink starting 2015)Burghound | 90-93 BHFrom substantial holdings planted with old vines, the Thibault Liger-Belair 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges Les St.-Georges displays both roasted, charred and raw red meatiness to a degree unusual for a Nuits-St.-Georges. Ripe black cherry and blackberry are also very much present, but this wine is not about sweetness of fruit. Substantial, firm but finely-tannic and formidably concentrated, it finishes with dark, faintly bitter berries, roasted meats, beef blood, a soy-like savor, and an intense yet hard to describe minerality. The wine tastes like something one should if anemic. Heady yet not hot in its nearly 15% alcohol, palpable extract rich and thick yet not leaden, it will need at least 5-7 years, I suspect, if it is to be tamed and refined at all. (The 2004, incidentally, was also powerful if very slightly lower in alcohol and displayed intriguing potential.)In this his fourth vintage, and (like his cousin at Comte Liger-Belair in Vosne-Romanee) young, ambitious in the pursuit of quality, well-traveled, and in the process of taking back family property from rental and negociant contracts, Thibault Liger-Belair is ensconced in deep, ancient, and bitterly-cold cellars in the center of Nuits-St.-Georges. He has begun pursuing a biodynamic regimen in his vineyards and has inaugurated a rigorously-controlled negociant arm (its wines labeled “Thibault Liger-Belair Successeurs” and designated “S” in my listings). He says he approached 2005 with great caution lest the wines lose polish and finesse to over-extraction of tannins. Certainly the results have included some very powerful and formidably structured wines. Low sulfur and a significant inclusion of whole clusters (“depending on the circumstances and site,” he says, “- I have no system”) are among other prominent features of Liger-Belair’s approach in 2005.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91-93 RP(14.8% alcohol; vinified with 30% whole clusters) Bright red-ruby. Superripe aroma of black raspberry liqueur. Fat, sweet and powerful; a big, chocolatey-rich wine that retains freshness yet comes across as a bit heavy. Will make a major mouthful but today I don’t find the near-grand cru class of the best examples from this vineyard.Vinous Media | 89-92 VM

A very classic wine for patient connoisseurs, Sociando Mallet makes no compromises and continues to produce one of the finest wines among non-classified estates in Haut-Medoc. Dense purple to the rim, the opaque purple-colored 2010 offers up notes of graphite, blueberry and black raspberry fruit, a hint of cassis, some licorice and wet rocks. Deep, full-bodied and almost excruciatingly tannic, this full-throttle, balls-to-the-wall style of wine needs at least 8-10 years of cellaring and should keep for three decades or more.Robert Parker | 91+ RPThe 2010 Sociando Mallet has a well defined, pure bouquet with blackberry, bilberry and light estuarine scents that gently waft from the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, a fine bead of acidity and good weight. It just needs more complexity and terroir expression on the finish. Give this another two or three years. This is one wine where I have encountered better bottles. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners 10-Year On Bordeaux horizontal.Vinous Media | 90+ VMLifted aromas of eucalyptus and menthol, with an initial attack of juicy dark fruit - but this drops on the mid-palate, and the tannins still feel a touch drying. Needs more time. Drinking Window 2019 - 2029.Decanter | 90 DEC

(Domaine de la Pousse d’Or Clos de la Roche Grand Cru Red) This is also aromatically inhibited with its reluctant nose of plum liqueur, leather, humus and evident floral wisps. Here too there is excellent volume and intensity to the muscular and powerful flavors that are shaped by firm tannins that leave no doubt that this is built-to-age and a wine that’s going to need extended patience. I would add that in the context of the 2017 vintage, this is a big wine. (Drink starting 2032)Burghound | 92-95 BHThe 2017 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru offers more red fruit than the Bonnes-Mares, although at the moment this does not quite deliver the same nuance and comeliness. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannin, quite linear and strict (especially for this vineyard), but with a welcome pinch of white pepper and sage towards the persistent finish. Afford it several years in bottle.Vinous Media | 91-93 VM