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This beautiful wine from Fleur Cardinale performed great in its youth, both from barrel as well as post-bottling. A gorgeous blend of 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon made by the Decoster family, the 2005 provides more evidence that this property is fully exploiting its tremendous potential. A few years away from reaching its plateau of maturity, its stunning nose of black cherry liqueur, cassis, licorice, earth and spice is followed by a full-bodied, concentrated and pure wine. Drink it over the next 15 or more years.Robert Parker | 94 RPThe 2005 Fleur Cardinale is packed with succulent red cherry, red plum, mint, blood orange, mocha and espresso. Sumptuous and bold, to the core, Fleur Cardinale is wonderfully immediate. Time in the glass really lets the wine shine. This is a rich, concentrated wine with a lot of oak, but one of the very best wines made in this style. It’s a terrific showing from the Decoster family.Vinous Media | 94 VMBeautiful aromas of black licorice, berry and vanilla follow through to a full body, with soft, velvety tannins and a long, caressing finish. Polished and very pretty. Incredibly well done for this estate. Best after 2016. 5,700 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

In this vintage, this estate (one of the leading properties in Fronsac) produced an opaque/purple blend of 75% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon from vines averaging 25 years of age. Offering beautiful black cherry and black raspberry fruit, abundant chalk, minerality, a medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, and a long finish, this over-achieving, full-throttle Fronsac is a brilliant example of the vintage and of this terroir. Give it another several years of bottle age, and drink it over the following 10-15 years. This sleeper of the vintage should prove to be one of the longest-lived vintages of Vieille Cure to date. Kudos to the ownership.Robert Parker | 92 RPDark in color, showing lots of blackberry and licorice aromas, with a hint of tar. Full-bodied, with soft tannins and plenty of ripe fruit and smoky oak. Fun and interesting. Best after 2010.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

This is wonderfully balanced, with red fruits and hints of toasted oak. Full and long, with fine tannins and a bright finish. Gorgeous.Wine Spectator | 89-92 WSSaturated medium ruby. Superripe aromas of blackberry, violet and licorice. Deep, powerful and penetrating, with a real warmth to the black fruit and spice flavors and superb breadth for this bottling. Finishes long and ripe, with lovely restrained sweetness. A big boy, with 14.3% alcohol. In fact, this is downright powerful.Vinous Media | 90 VM

With a gorgeous nose of super-concentrated black cherry/kirsch liqueur, this wine offers notes of licorice, crushed rock and flowers followed by a full-bodied, powerful, rich finish with a boatload of tannin. This is a long-distance runner and a sensational effort in the vintage. Drink it over the next 25-30 years.Robert Parker | 97+ RPBeautiful crushed berry, spice and raspberry tart character follows through to a full body, with silky tannins and a long, caressing finish. A pretty wine. Best after 2013.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

Probably the best Fieuzal I have tasted in many a year, the 2005 has a dense purple color and a gorgeous nose of charcoal, graphite, blackcurrants, cherries and earth. It is medium to full-bodied and very rich, with ripe tannin and a multidimensional mouthfeel. This is a superb wine and a great success for the château. Drink it over the next 25+ years.Robert Parker | 94 RPA powerful, dense wine that relies on beautifully smooth ripe fruit, with black tannins underneath all this richness. Flavors of black figs and dried fruits show its extra concentration.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WEEarthy and meaty on the nose, with lots of ripe fruit. Full-bodied, soft and round. There’s loads of Pessac character, with hints of vanilla and coffee. A decadent style. Best after 2011. 8,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

The 2005 Pichon-Longueville Baron is another concentrated, full-bodied 2005 that’s starting to drink well. Cassis, black cherries, tobacco leaf, cedar and classic Pauillac lead-pencil characteristics all emerge from this ripe, sexy, surprisingly rounded effort that has a stacked mid-palate and sweet, polished tannin. It’s impressive today but is going to cruise for another two to three decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDBaron was trapped in its oak en primeur, seeming flashy, luscious and soft. Now bottled and shipped, it has the unremitting tannic power of the vintage, balanced by unrelenting purity of fruit that somehow manages to anesthetize the monstrous tannin, to soften the extremely dry, mineral-bound finish into a caress. The wine may be bombastic, but it’s also succulent and as sweet as a ripe black raspberry. It’s easy to imagine this wine 50 years from now, in impeccable condition. Diageo Château & Estate Wines, NYWine & Spirits | 96 W&SA great, classic Pauillac, with its dark, dense, almost black currant flavors stirred together with immense tannins. The layers of dryness, fresh fruits, acidity and ripeness are all coming together into a magnificent structure.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WEWeeks of sunshine preceded an entirely healthy harvest, leading to high expectations that have been fulfilled. This is still opaque red in colour, the resplendent black-fruit nose accompanied by toasty oak, though still a bit reserved. Very rich and velvety, it is highly concentrated with lavish tannins. Broad-shouldered and chocolatey, it has moderate acidity and is now beginning to open up, though it remains imposing and a bit monumental. Textured and long. Drinking Window 2020 - 2038Decanter | 95 DECThe 2005 Pichon Baron is in a gorgeous spot right now. Aromatically expressive and open, the 2005 is so expressive. Cedar, sweet pipe tobacco, mint, dried flowers, mocha and sweet red cherry fruit all meld together in a creamy, wonderfully expressive Pauillac. A long, persistent finish with terrific saline energy rounds things out in style. The 2005 is a super classic Pichon Baron that delivers so much pleasure.Antonio Galloni | 95 AGOffers crushed currant and blackberry on the nose, turning to tar and licorice. Full-bodied, with a solid core of ripe fruit and seamless tannins. Goes on and on. Very, very beautiful. A cross between the 2000 and fabulous 2003. Best after 2013. 20,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WSThe 2005 Pichon Baron has a dense ruby/purple color, sweet crème de cassis fruit, lots of cedar wood and forest floor, medium to full body, ripe tannin, and a long finish of a good 30+ seconds. This is a beauty and one of the most successful Pauillacs of this vintage. Drink it now through 2035.Robert Parker | 93 RP

This is a wine that makes you dream. The nose is packed with flowers, sweet tobacco, iodine, spices, raspberries, blackberries, and great freshness. The texture is perfection, pure silk and the fruit is wonderfully complex and subtle. Currants, fresh mushrooms, flowers, and stones fill the mouth and make way to a delightful finish. Please leave this alone until 2020.James Suckling | 100 JSThe 2005 Haut Brion is out of this world and certainly one of the finest wines I’ve ever tasted. Deeper, richer, and more concentrated than the 2000, it offers as pure an expression of this terroir as I could image with huge notes of blackcurrants, roasted herbs, scorched earth, tobacco, and earth all literally soaring from the glass. Full-bodied, powerful, concentrated, and layered, it still holds onto the hallmark elegance and purity of the estate. Wine doesn’t get any better and this tour de force can be drunk anytime over the coming three decades or more.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDThe 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 aromatics, incredible fragrance (subtle smoke and blue, red, and black fruits) that persists in the glass, full-bodied mouthfeel (though very light and delicate on its feet), and incredible length characterize this great Haut-Brion. It is just starting to drink well, and should continue to do so for at least another three decades. It is a tour de force in winemaking, but only 9,000 cases were produced.Robert Parker | 100 RPThis is incredible on the nose, showing coffee cake, blackberry, floral, coffee bean and vanilla bean, with Chinese spices. A very complex, full-bodied red, with seamless, hyperpolished tannins that caress every millimeter of the palate. Lasts for minutes. So beautifully balanced, I’m left speechless. Is it even better than the 1989? Best after 2017. 9,080 cases made.Wine Spectator | 100 WSPoured alongside an impressive lineup of 2016s, the 2005 Haut-Brion provided exquisite context to these newly released wines. While still very much in its youth, it is generously expressive and beguilingly fragrant. Initial notes of roasted coffee make way for cedar, cigar smoke, blackberry and truffles. The palate is dense with sumptuous fruit but remains graceful and fresh as waves of refined tannin build surreptitiously. On point minerally lingers endlessly on the finish. My instinct would be to hold off for a few more years though I wouldn’t blame anyone for wanting to open this now. What an absolute treat. Drinking Window 2020 - 2045Decanter | 99 DECThe 2005 Haut-Brion is a deep, meaty wine. Black cherry, game, smoke, tobacco, licorice, gravel and scorched earth saturate every corner of the palate. The 2005 is inky, creamy and voluptuous right out of the gate. It is also very young and in need of time in bottle. Most wines I tasted for this report started to lose a little steam after 24 hours, but the Haut-Brion kept getting better and better. It’s a magical wine, if a bit less accessible than most other 2005s at this stage. Tasted two times.Antonio Galloni | 99+ AGAll mineral at first, this wine feels cloistered in a stone cellar, its profound depths of red fruit more an impression than an immediate sensual connection. That direct connection forms over the course of several days, as the brilliant energy of the wine grows increasingly apparent. It has the controlled power of a tho­roughbred, naked and beautiful. The choice between Haut-Brion and La Mission is difficult in this vintage; anyone investing in one should invest in the other. This may prove the grander of the two, but that will likely be a point of debate for 50 years or more. Diageo Château & Estate Wines, NYWine & Spirits | 98 W&SA big, virile wine, dominated by dark and firm tannins. The structure comes from powerful black fruits, the wood only showing as dry edge to the tannins. It’s firm, obviously destined for long aging, with initial blackberry fruits powering through the density. A stupendous wine that will last many decades.Wine Enthusiast | 98 WE

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 | 100 JSIn two recent tastings the 2005 Château Margaux has been nothing less than magnificent. A wine of stunning perfume and inner sweetness, the 2005 gradually opens to reveal layers of red-toned fruit intermingled with floral accents. It’s as if all the classic Margaux signatures have been amped up in a huge way. Dehydration on the vine concentrated the fruit, but also the impression of tannin and acid, such that the 2005 retains huge fruit density along with plenty of brightness as well. Vibrant and beautifully layered, the 2005 Grand Vin is off the charts and easily one of the wines of the vintage. Readers who own it or can find it are in for a real treat. Tasted two times.Antonio Galloni | 99 AGThe first-growth 2005 Château Margaux (85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot), a lavish fragrance of blackcurrants, velvety new saddle leather, spring flowers and spice soars from the glass. The wood is already totally concealed beneath the cascade of fruit in this medium to full-bodied, pure and majestic wine. This concentrated, dense, but nevertheless strikingly elegant, multi-layered wine has a finish of 45+ seconds. It builds incrementally to a crescendo and finale. This is a stunner that can be approached already, but promises to be better in another 5-10 years and last at least 25 or more years.Robert Parker | 98+ RP(Château Margaux, Margaux, Bordeaux, France, Red) This extraordinary wine announces its brilliance at first glance, with a bright curranty fruit aromas that expand quietly at first until one realizes the depth of concentration and flavour it possesses, with exotic spices, smoke, leather, and earth. The blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot, aged in new casks, produces a silky texture, perfect balance, and enough substance to give fantastic length without any heaviness. This wine was a unanimous favourite in the flight. (Drink between 2021-2040)Decanter | 98 DECFor a Château Margaux, this is an especially rich wine. The dense fruit, superripe but not overpowering, and the blackberry jam flavors show the richness of the year. There is wood alongside the juiciness and sweet tannins. Of course, it will age, but it’s so delicious to drink now.Wine Enthusiast | 98 WEStill 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. 10,833 cases made.Wine Spectator | 97 WSAn extravagantly ripe vintage of Margaux, this has the first-growth scent of a wine at home in its new oak. The texture is succulent and generous, the aromas bright with floral tones and sweet fruit, a taste of fresh strawberries and blackberries macerated in liqueur. This is a beautiful wine, and it may reveal more of its structural power with time. Diageo Château & Estate Wines, NYWine & Spirits | 94 W&S

Needs coaxing out of the glass, as is true with so many 2005s even at 16 years old, but straight off the first nose you get the most beautiful nuance and turmeric-strewn spice. It’s exotic if subtle, with a creamy texture, grilled oak, black chocolate shavings, cassis and raspberry, all with the most beautiful sense of tiptoing through the palate, holding the line. Exceptionally well balanced, slate and smoked earth, giving signature St Julien finesse. You have really had to be patient for this wine, but it is utterly spellbinding, and starting to show its potential. Harvest September 20 to October 10. This one really does benefit from being carafed, because it keeps so much of itself hidden (I tasted it once in a carafe and once straight from the bottle). Brilliant, full of flavour. Harvest September 20 to October 11, 35% new oak.Jane Anson | 98 JAThis tastes of great Cabernet Sauvignon, with its black currant, cedar and herbs and fresh, juicy acidity. It is as fresh as it is rich, but it has a structure of dense tannins that balances the wine. This is one of the best wines from Gruaud-Larose for several years.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEAromas of blackberry, meat and earth follow through to a full body, with velvety tannins and a rich finish. Decadent, balanced and very approachable already. I thought it would have been a little better than this. Best after 2014.Wine Spectator | 91 WSLicorice spice and tough black tannins form tight boundaries around this wine. Within them, sweet red fruit lends a gracious impression, gentle and refined. Age will allow the wine to expand as the tannins relent, but this offers impressive drinking now, particularly if decanted with steak.Wine & Spirits | 91 W&SGood red-ruby. Redcurrant, leather and game on the expressive if slightly rustic nose. Sweet and concentrated but a bit youthfully aggressive, and not showing the refinement or definition of the 2006. Strong nutty oak component. Finishes with substantial tannins that are a bit richer and more fully buffered by the wine’s middle-palate material than those of the 2006. It will be interesting to compare these two vintages in ten years or so.Vinous Media | 90 VMThe 2005 Gruaud Larose has a deep ruby/purple color, excellent concentration, and clean, pure black and red currant fruit, licorice and spice. It is medium to full-bodied, lush, and very soft and round. I’m surprised how drinkable it is already, although it is certainly capable of lasting 15 or more years.Robert Parker | 90 RP

This is so creamy, almost milky in feel, with toasted coconut and cashew notes giving way to sweet peach, apricot and glazed pear flavors that glide along, while ginger, green tea, lychee and kumquat flavors extend through the finish. Shows terrific range and definition. Feels like it’s just starting to open, and is in no rush. Drink now through 2035. 2,665 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSTasted blind at the 10-Year On Tasting in Sauternes. The 2005 Château de Fargues has a rich and intense bouquet with layers of honey, dried peach, beeswax and acacia that soar from the glass. The palate is powerful and authoritative: intense botrytis-rich honeyed fruit with compelling mineralité underneath. It fans out in glorious fashion – a stunning de Fargues that is now beginning to show its talents. As I remarked a couple of years ago, just afford it a couple more years so that it can fully absorb the vestiges of oak.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 95 RP-NMThe nose is sumptuous but still conspicuously oaky, though the oak doesn’t suppress the lovely apricot fruit. Indeed it confers aromatic elegance. Very sweet and intense on the palate, this is creamy and concentrated, with excellent purity of fruit, but a lively acidity, which gives the wine its finesse. Well balanced. Drinking Window 2021 - 2030.Decanter | 93 DECMedium yellow. Exotic, high-toned apricot, spices and flowers on the nose, complemented by coconutty, toasty oak. Very sweet and unctuous, with exotic, nobly rotten flavors of pineapple, apricot and coconut and an impression of elevated alcohol. Not quite as racy, fruity or structured as the 2007; conveys an impression of softer acidity, and yet this maintains a light touch. Finishes with suggestions of vanilla and marzipan.Vinous Media | 92 VMNo written review provided. | 92 W&S

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 velvety tannins (which is unusual in this vintage) and a long, textured, multi-layered finish that must last 50+ seconds. This is a fabulous wine and a great effort from this hallowed terroir. Drink this modern-day legend over the next 30+ years. Only 5,500 cases were produced of this blend of 69% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Cabernet Franc.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPThis is very rich and layered for La Mission with ultra-polished tannins yet velvety and beautiful in texture. It’s fully-bodied and full of character that shows plums, berries, wet earth and oyster shell flavors that are so unique to reds from this estate. Superb quality. Better to drink this in 2020 but try now to feel the greatness.James Suckling | 99 JSStill inky hued, the blockbuster styled 2005 Château La Mission Haut Brion is based on a blend of 69% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc. A huge monster of a wine that’s still 4-5 years out from its drink window, it gives up massive amounts of ripe, smoky black fruits, truffles, chocolate, graphite, and roasted meats. This carries to a full-bodied Pessac-Léognan offering a dense, concentrated mid-palate, lots of tannins, wonderful purity, and one heck of a magical finish.Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDThe 2005 La Mission Haut-Brion is a wine that I have had the pleasure of tasting on several occasions. The most recent bottle, included in a 2005 horizontal, puts it in a very favorable light even against strong competition. The bouquet bursts from the glass with intense blackberry, cedar and tobacco scents, plus background aromas of fig and damson, as you would expect from a warm summer. The palate is structured, yet the Merlot content (at 69%, the highest in many years) renders this Pessac-Léognan much more pliant than others from this vintage. A mélange of red and black fruits vie for attention, followed by warm gravel and black olives. Quite rich and yet not grippy; with decanting, you could broach this now, though personally I would prefer to leave it for several more years. Outstanding.Vinous Media | 97 VMA glorious vintage of La Mission, this young wine buzzes with energy in the mouth. All of the flavors, whether herbal, earthy or vinous, seem to refer back to the tiny pebbles of this terroir. The texture is silken, the finish exclamatory and grand. It has a racy beauty, the kind of effortless strength Nureyev’s choreography projects in Le Corsaire. One of the wines of the vintage, this has a high proportion of merlot in the blend (69 percent). It’s more accessible than Haut-Brion, but still has the stamina for long-term aging. Diageo Château & Estate Wines, NYWine & Spirits | 97 W&SDark and dense, but with such opulent fruit, this is a year when La Mission shows its softer, richer side by comparison with neighbor Haut-Brion. There is spice and exotic and generous red fruits to give with the concentration. It has great power, but it also has a velvet structure.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEThe Indian spices and blackberry on the nose are so enticing and inspiring, leading to a full-bodied palate, with very polished tannins that caress. Goes on and on as this builds on the palate, with a mineral and berry aftertaste. For long-term aging. Best after 2015. 5,665 cases made.Wine Spectator | 97 WS

The Château 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 palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins and very well-judged acidity. This is very harmonious in the mouth, nicely structured with great precision and persistence. There is a sense of reserve here, but it has a compelling complexity that will surely be enhanced with bottle age. It’s wines like these that remind you why this has such as devoted following that includes yours truly among its number.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 96 RP-NMThe 2005 Canon is all brawn and muscle. Chunky tannins give the 2005 a decidedly virile feel. There is plenty of depth and freshness - this is after all one of the very best sites in all of Bordeaux - so the 2005 will hold for many years to come. Dark fruit, leather, smoke, gravel, crushed rocks and spice linger on the potent finish. Tasting the 2005 today really highlights how far Canon has come in recent yearsVinous Media | 95 VMThe 2005 Château Canon is beautiful, although I think it checks in behind vintages such as 2009, 2015, 2016, and 2017. Revealing a deep ruby/purple hue as well as mineral-laced notes of black raspberries, black cherries, white flowers, crushed rock, and Asian spice, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, incredible purity, and flawless balance. It stays more compact and tight, with little in the way of baby fat, but it’s incredibly elegant and pure. A gorgeous, layered, seamless wine that blossoms with a decant, it unquestionably has another 20-25 years of prime drinking.Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JDAromas of fresh cep mushrooms, berries, spices, roses, and sous bois, give way to hints of milk chocolate and vanilla. Full and rich, with beautifully balanced tannins and a long finish. Loads going on in this wine, yet it remains subtle and beautiful. This needs time. Pull the cork after 2015.James Suckling | 94 JS(Château Canon) While the 2006 Canon is still open and quite easy to project on into its future, the 2005 has gone into hibernation and is not particularly forthcoming at the present time. The bouquet reluctantly yields up scents of black cherries, dark chocolate, tobacco leaf, some gravelly soil tones and a bit of spicy new wood that is buried deep in the other aromatic elements. On the palate the wine is very full-bodied, deep and rock solid at the core, with the vintage’s beautiful taught acidity really sealing up this beauty from the mid-palate back. The finish is long, firmly tannic and superbly well focused, with excellent grip and a palate-staining persistency. Today this wine is hermetically sealed, but it will be superb at its apogee. (Drink between 2025-2075)John Gilman | 92-94+ JGShows a lightly roasted edge at first, with raspberry and boysenberry confiture notes laced with melted licorice, singed alder and firm graphite details. Reveals a fine chalky hint, but this has more bass than treble overall. Still rather tight.—Non-blind Canon vertical (December 2016). Best from 2020 through 2030. 4,200 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WSFreshness and richness combine in this wine. There’s a eucalyptus freshness that goes with the intense acidity. But alongside this is the dark, dense blackberry fruit that layers with the hints of wood. Keep this for six years before tasting, and then for many more.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WE

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 Suckling | 96 JSVery grapey on the nose, with mineral, tarragon and fresh flowers. Full-bodied, with very well-integrated tannins and a light vanilla, berry and milk chocolate aftertaste. Subtle and balanced. The best Nenin in years. Best after 2012.Wine Spectator | 93 WSA very smooth, rich wine, with a slight touch of pepper from the alcohol. The tannins are huge but submerged by ripe fruit. There's almost Napa-like ripeness, but also delicious acidity.Wine Enthusiast | 91 WEAn attractive minty, almost eucalyptus nose, with red cherry brightness; however, it’s not as dense or long as the 2015. Indeed, while the 2015 is a little closed, the tannins here come across almost hard by comparison, making the wine less charming than you’d expect from a Pomerol. The blend contains 74% Merlot and 26% Cabernet Franc. Drinking Window 2018 - 2030.Decanter | 90 DEC

Bernard Audoy usually makes a gracious, middleweight wine at his property across from Cos d’Estournel, at the southern border of St-Estèphe. This 2005 is more powerful, with jasmine and bergamot scents buzzing over serious tannins. The fruit is completely hidden, as black as the tannins that coat the mouth in mineral flavors, neither ripping nor softened up. Sleek and expansive, this is set to age for ten years or more.Wine & Spirits | 92 W&SSaturated medium ruby. Slightly reduced aromas of blackberry, cassis, kirsch, menthol, black olive and shoe polish; a bit inexpressive today. Then broad, ripe and sweet, but with a firm spine of acids and tannins giving shape and thrust to this very young wine. Finishes with broad, serious tannins and noteworthy power and persistence. A very good showing.Vinous Media | 88-90 VM

(Les Fiefs de Lagrange) The Les Fiefs de Lagrange is just lovely in 2005, as it combines the great purity, tangy acidity and depth of fruit of the vintage with the slightly more forward style of a serious second label. The bouquet is deep, focused and classy, as it offers up notes of ripe cassis, black cherries, tobacco leaf, lovely soil tones and a judicious framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, deep and beautifully focused, with a fair bit of ripe tannin, excellent mid-palate depth and excellent acidity that adds precision and vibrancy to the palate on the long, complex and youthful finish. This is simply a terrific second label from one of the most traditional, and hence important château remaining in St. Julien. I would give this fine wine four or five years in the cellar to fully blossom, though it is so well-balanced that it is already quite approachable. But the best is yet to come. (Drink between 2013-2030).John Gilman | 90 JGA blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot This has a similar hue to the 2006 Les Fiefs but there is obviously more intensity on the nose. Blackberries, wild strawberries and fresh tobacco leaf. Great lift from the glass. The palate is full-bodied, lots of ripe black fruits, cedar and graphite, good acidity, a little closed towards the finish, but this still represents a great second wine. Good length. Superb. Tasted September 2008.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 90 RP-NM

A Bordeaux that seems to have a Burgundian personality, L’Arrosée’s 2005 displays elegance and finesse, with sweet black cherry and blackcurrant fruit, hints of minerality and earth, but soft tannin, a lush, medium-bodied style, and impressive concentration, purity and overall texture. By no means a blockbuster (in a vintage that produced almost endless numbers of them), this wine can be drunk now or cellared for another 15-20 years.Robert Parker | 91 RPDisplays rich, impressive aromas of toasty oak, coffee and meat, with fruity undertones. Full-bodied, with a spicy, fruity palate. There’s lots of coffee, meat and berry character on the finish. Balanced and very pretty. Best after 2012. 2,915 cases made.Wine Spectator | 91 WSMedium red. Sexy aromas of redcurrant, graphite and smoky, nutty oak. Supple, lush and soft but with harmonious acidity giving shape to the currant and smoke flavors. One senses some thoroughly ripe cabernet here. Finishes with sweet tannins, lingering red fruits and good cut. The best vintage in a long time for this chateau.Vinous Media | 90 VM

Open-knit yet deep and powerful, the 2005 Les Forts de Latour is striking today. The pedigree of the vintage comes through in spades. Expressive, perfumed aromatics meld into a core of supple, open-knit fruit in a mid-weight, impeccably balanced Forts de Latour. Hints of red fruit, iron, smoke and tobacco add lovely shades of nuance. Latour's President Frédéric Engerer adds that that 2005 was the easiest and most balanced growing season (including 2009 and 2010) he has seen because his team had the total flexibility of choosing when to harvest.Vinous Media | 94 VMShows blackberry, coffee, cedar, and raisin on the nose, turning to licorice and fresh flowers. Full-bodied, with refined, silky tannins and a long finish. Balanced and juicy. Builds on the palate, with currant, licorice and mineral character, followed by a powerful finish. An amazing second wine. Best after 2015. 13,330 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WSAlways the equivalent of many classed growths, Les Forts de Latour is hardly a second wine, deriving from a particular parcel of the Latour vineyard. This 2005 is beautifully balanced, with lively fresh acidity, dense tannins and ripe, juicy black fruits. The acidity stays right to the end.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WE

Superrich in its dark fruit, black herbs and boldly oaked flavors, this is also firm and, in the end, extremely tannic. It finishes dry, the power of the tannin increasing with air, with a grip that will need long bottle aging to relent. Check on it ten years from the vintage.Wine & Spirits | 92 W&SMilk chocolate and blackberry aromas follow through to a full body, with very soft tannins and a long, caressing finish. This is so delicious now, but has a balance of fruit and tannins. One of the best from this estate in some time. Best after 2014. 2,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WSI recall enjoying this wine from barrel, with its fresh fruit aromatics, solid tannins and fine length. Tasted two years ago in Bordeaux, it again showed freshness but lacked density. Tasty, but not at the level of the 2015. A blend of 75% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc. Drinking Window 2018 - 2022Decanter | 90 DECFruity and smoky, this wine succeeds on its charm, with soft tannins, acidity and superripe fruit. With its (for Pomerol) high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon, the wine certainly has structure, but maybe misses on richness.Wine Enthusiast | 90 WE

Significantly better from bottle than it was from barrel, the 2005 Rauzan-Gassies appears to be the finest wine this estate has ever produced. Dense purple-hued with a beautiful perfume of camphor, creme de cassis, licorice, bay leaf, and incense, it is a full-bodied, stunningly concentrated, broad, rich Margaux with lovely integrated tannins. This backward 2005 will handsomely repay cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2030+.Robert Parker | 92 RPSolid, dry tannins, very firm and hard, but they are also ripe. The wine has high extraction, very dark fruit flavors, but resists being too huge. This could well turn out to be a very elegant wine.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WEAll boats rise in a vintage like 2005, and the notoriously sleepy second Rauzan-Gassies turned out to be one of the surprises at our tasting. It starts with a dark scent of tobacco and then cassis pours out of the middle of the wine. At first, the fruit seems a little weak in the finish, but the center feels lush and silken and, with air, the pebbly tannins extend a sleek plummy flavor. You'll get more from the super-seconds, but this is a fine wine on its own terms.Wine & Spirits | 90 W&S

Very pretty aromas of blackberry, with hints of Indian spices and licorice, follow through to a full body, with velvety tannins and a fruity aftertaste. Has lots of green olive, dark olive and plum on the finish. Very balanced. Best after 2014. Wine Spectator | 91 WS

From another of the small, well-run properties of proprietor Denis Barraud, the 2005 Lynsolence delivers beautiful plum, black cherry and cassis fruit. Some licorice, underbrush and incense are also present in this complex, medium to full-bodied wine, which has terrific purity, length and overall balance. This wine is just starting to be drinkable and should continue to hold nicely for another 10-12 years.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RPThe 2005 Lynsolence is a rich, heady Saint-Émilion loaded with inky dark fruit, dried herbs, chocolate, licorice and spice. Although the 2005 has certainly aged well, this style is more enjoyable where there is more fruit, in my view. The 2005 is not exactly in decline, but its best years are behind it.Vinous Media | 90 VMBlackberry and light vanilla aromas follow through to a medium-bodied palate, with silky tannins and a long, caressing finish. Soft and pretty. Best after 2011. 650 cases made.Wine Spectator | 90 WS