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This is more robust in colour than the (half bottle of) 1998, and still has good tannic hold. A dip appears in the mid palate though and it's not got the depth of expression that you will find in some of the best 2000 Pomerols right now. But, this is sappy with liquorice, rich black cherry, tobacco and gentle slow roasted spices, enjoyable and accomplished. Drinking Window 2020 - 2028Decanter | 90 DEC

Wonderful aromatics of walnut, leather, soft truffles, touches of cloves, this is a perfect wine for the winter months. The high acidity maintains freshness and backbone but there is a definite tertiary feel at this point with autumnal raspberry and blackberry fruits. It's gentle and welcoming with the elegant edge that Issan does so well. Feels like an old friend and practically begs you to stop what you are doing and open a book. A yield of 36hl/ha. 50% new oak. Drinking Window 2020 - 2034.Decanter | 94 DECFully mature, the 2000 D’Issan is a quintessentially elegant, yet concentrated, aristocratic Margaux that defines the appellation. The wine has a dark ruby/purple color just beginning to lighten at the edge. Notes of charcoal, acacia flowers, black raspberries, and blue fruits are followed by a medium to full-bodied wine that builds incrementally on the palate. With its outstanding purity, richness, elegance and length, this is a beauty that has reached its window of maturity, where it should stay for another 15 or more years.Robert Parker | 93 RPChâteau d’Issan produced a very good wine in the 2000 vintage, but it is still several years away from starting to blossom and drink with generosity. The deep and still quite primary nose delivers scents of cassis, tar, herb tones, cigar smoke, coffee bean and a bit of toasty new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and potentially complex, with a rock solid core, firm tannins, very good focus and a long, youthfully muscular and chewy finish. Like a great many examples of the 2000 vintage in Bordeaux, this wine is completely hunkered down at the present time and is a bit sullen, but it should prove to be very good with sufficient bottle age. Just how much charm it will eventually deliver is still an open question, but that is a question that really should be asked of the vintage in general! Drink between 2020-2060.John Gilman | 92 JGNo written reviews provided | 92 W&S

Hello. Take textbook St.-Julien warmed fig, blueberry compote and blackberry reduction notes along with ample graphite, bramble and tobacco flavors, then dial it up a notch. This has terrific energy to offset the admirable depth and length, and hasn’t even started a second phase yet. One of the stars of the vintage.—Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Best from 2018 through 2033. 20,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSDecadent aromas of strawberry tart, earth, meat, spices, that gives way to flowers and currants. Full and very soft, with refined tannins with a very long finish. This is just starting to open up right now, a real beauty. Soft and delicious with a great future. This will be better in 5 years, but you can enjoy this now. Pull the cork in 2015.James Suckling | 96 JSRight from the early days of tasting in spring 2001, this was going to be one of the stars of the vintage. And a star it remains. There is big, ripe fruit, with solid, ageworthy tannins. It may not be as powerful as some of the blockbusters of the vintage, but it is certainly more opulent, less classical than Léoville-Barton can sometimes be.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WEI found this to be one of the more backward wines of the 2000 vintage and gave it a window of maturity of 2015-2040 when I reviewed it in 2003. In my two recent tastings of it, I changed that window to 2018-2050, which probably says more than the following tasting note could say. This is a behemoth – dense, highly extracted, very tannic, broodingly backward, with a dense purple color and very little evolution since it was bottled 8 years ago. Wonderfully sweet cedar and fruitcake notes are intermixed with hints of creme de cassis, licorice, and earthy forest floor. It is full-bodied and tannic, with everything in place, but like so many wines that come from Leoville Barton, it makes a mockery of many modern-day consumers wanting a wine for immediate gratification. Those who bought it should continue to exercise patience and be proud to own a wonderful classic with five decades of longevity ahead of it.Robert Parker | 95+ RPNo written review provided. | 94 W&SThe 2000 Léoville-Barton has a juicy, ripe bouquet of macerated black cherries, incense, potpourri and veins of blue fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins, good density, nice structure and a sappy conclusion. This has opened up in recent years and displays a touch of ash toward the finish. Drinking perfectly now, it’s a decent Léoville-Barton that never quite achieves the heights of recent stellar vintages.Vinous Media | 90 VM

Probably the finest Giscours made since the 1975, this black/purple-colored 2000 offers up terrific notes of camphor, creosote, blackberry, and cassis jam intermixed with notions of smoke and earth. Spicy, with low acidity, a big, rich, fleshy, full-bodied palate, outstanding texture, and a long, pure finish, it is, to reiterate, one of the best Giscours produced over the last 25 years. A sleeper of the vintage, it is still available for a realistic price.Robert Parker | 92 RPThis is very perfumed, with mushrooms, berries, and even strawberries. Full and round on the palate with soft tannins and lovely sweet finish. This is very long and balanced, but still needs time. Just starting to open up now, but give it a couple of years. Pull the cork in 2012.James Suckling | 92 JSThis is a big, powerful, firm wine, with a top layer of ripe, glamorous fruit flavors. Blackcurrant jelly fruits are shot through with ripe acidity and soft tannins. It should develop relatively fast, but then last well.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WEA touch more advanced than the rest of the pack, with beautiful singed alder and juniper notes starting to lead the way while the core of lightly steeped black currant and fig fruit notes is simmering nicely with subtle charcoal and loam elements. Stylish bay-infused finish.—Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2020. 27,500 cases made. Wine Spectator | 91 WSThis is a big, rich style of wine with a deep inner core of colour and fruit that is almost on the overripe side. The extraction seems a little more pushed, the tannins chunky and slightly chewy on the finish. That said, there’s still an innate freshness and gourmand nature to the wine. It will appeal to those that prefer a plusher style, less so those that have a more classic leaning. Drinking Window 2021 - 2028.Decanter | 91 DECThe 2000 Giscours is a vintage that I last tasted at the 20th-anniversary vertical in 2015. It has a lovely nose, not powerful, but pure and less rustic than some of the others tasted, offering red plum and cedar (as I have noted on previous bottles) and hints of fig jam and black olive. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins and just a splash of balsamic infusing the red fruit. It lacks a little length and feels a bit compact on the finish, but there is ample freshness and tension. Decanting would benefit this millennial. Fine.Vinous Media | 90 VM

This is lovely, with steeped currant, fig and blackberry fruit flavors that flow easily along with singed juniper, black tea and iron notes. At peak, but no rush, as the balance is there.—Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2023. 15,415 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

This is big and tannic, with loads of concentration. Full-bodied, chewy and impressive. Leave it for a long time. Super price for a cru classé. Best after 2010. 22,080 cases made. — JSWine Spectator | 90 WS

A wine of exquisite aromatic depth and grace, the 2000 Cheval Blanc is fully captivating. All the elements fall into place in an effortless, gracious wine. It’s frankly hard to move past the 2000 Cheval, because at this point, I want nothing to compete with it.Vinous Media | 100 VMComing out of a relatively dormant state, this 2000 is a spectacular Cheval Blanc. Of recent vintages, I think only the 2009 can give it a run for its money. A blend of 53% Merlot and 47% Cabernet Franc, the wine has a sweet nose of menthol, melted licorice, boysenberry, blueberry, and cassis. A broad wine with compelling purity, a layered texture, and sweet tannin, with hints of coffee and earth in the background, this is by far the best Cheval Blanc since 1990 and before 2009. It is a legend in the making and can actually be drunk now, as the tannins have nearly melted away. This is a beauty with incredibly complex aromatics. Drink it over the next 25-30 years.Robert Parker | 99 RPClosed and backward over the past decade, the 2000 Chateau Cheval Blanc seems to have turned the corner and is drinking spectacularly well today, with the hallmark elegance and complexity of this estate front and center. Sweet red and black fruits, spice box, dried flowers, and forest floor notes all develop with time in the glass, and it has a balanced, resolved style on the palate that’s a joy to drink. The 2000 is blend of 53% Merlot and 47% Cabernet Franc, and while mature, it has another two decades or more of prime drinking ahead of it.Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JDIn 2000, it seems the Cabernet Franc made Cheval Blanc. It has given a mysterious, wonderful perfume to the intense richness of the Merlot. It has less of the explosive power of Ausone, it is more subtle and elegant, reserving its explosion of richness for the end, when a welter of black fruits seems to go on for ever.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEDeep to very deep red. Sumptuous aromas of raspberries, blackberries, and menthol, full ripe and perfumed but restrained. The rich attack still shows powerful tannins, and youthful, firm acidity. It’s taut and spicy, subtle and complex, with tension on the finish, which is very long. Drinking Window 2015 - 2040Decanter | 95 DECNo written review provided. | 95 W&SA light menthol hint gives way to bay and tobacco leaf notes, which hold steady throughout, while the core of dark currant and fig fruit flavors takes on a warm, macerated, almost hedonistic feel. The finish has a tarry hint but is very polished and refined overall, with finely beaded acidity and a light iron accent. This is so caressing and languid, you almost lose sight of how long it is. Lovely.—Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2030.Wine Spectator | 94 WSA very nice nose of blackberries, dark chocolate, and flowers. Full bodied and smokey, with a meaty, mushroom, tobacco, and berry character. Wonderfully long, long finish to this muscular wine with fine tannins. This is still evolving but needs another five or six years. Find the wineJames Suckling | 94 JS

Right now, at 20 years old, this wine is approaching its perfect drinking beginning - by which I mean it is now stepping up onto the plateau that the best wines get to, where you don’t need to worry about opening them immediately, but you can feel confident that you are going to be getting the best of them if you choose to do so. Although we didn’t taste the 2000 in this particular lineup, on recent openings it is a more muscular and closed down than the 2001, and will probably last longer, but this is just blindingly delicious right now. The descriptions that are most often associated with Château Margaux must surely be finessed tannins and floral aromatics, and you have both of them in spades, along with gentle roasted fruits of plum and blackberry, violet, cedar spice, liquorice and tobacco. The tannins are fine and full of pleasure. 4% Cabernet Franc completes the blend. 100% new oak. Drinking Window 2021 - 2038.Decanter | 97 DEC“For me, this vintage is what makes Margaux special,” says Margaux winemaker Paul Pontallier. He is right: With its denseness, spice, flavors of black currants layered with dryness and fresh acidity, this is a huge and impressive wine that never forgets that it is Margaux. It is still young, and the dry tannic aftertaste, which lasts for many minutes, shows this.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WESuave from the start, with beguiling tea, singed sandalwood and lilac notes backed by alluring, gently steeped red and black currant fruit. The long finish has an alder edge that stays in lockstep with the fruit, ending with a minerally echo.—Blind ’01/’03/’05 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2017). Drink now through 2030. 10,833 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WSThe 2001 Chateau Margaux continues to evolve in impressive fashion. The nose feels sensual, veering towards red rather than black fruit, with disarming purity and perhaps showing more floral/violet character than the 1999. Both display tremendous precision and delineation. The palate is medium-bodied, edgy and tensile with crisp acidity, so fresh and vital in the mouth. Tasted next to the 1996 Château Margaux, it is clear to see that the 2001 is several steps behind, yet the way it fans out with such confidence and brio on the finish assures that this has a prosperous future. Tasted May 2016.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 94 RP-NMThe 2001 Château Margaux, last tasted five years previously, is slightly deeper in color compared with the 2001 Pavillon. Featuring black plum, raspberry and touches of orange peel, rose petal and light bay leaf aromas, the bouquet is not intense, but it is well defined and focused. The palate is fresh on the entry with fine-boned tannins and a taut line of acidity – a strict Château Margaux that doesn’t want to muck about. It’s little short on the finish, yet sophisticated and providing unadulterated buvabilité. Drinking perfectly now, and it will be enjoyable over the next 15–20 years.Vinous Media | 94 VMNo written review provided. | 91 W&S

A massive Yquem, this has a dense palate that is almost chewy like a red. Full and very sweet, with notes of dried apricot, pineapple, and papaya on the palate. Long, with a vanilla-coconut tart finish. What a wine, voluptuous, sexy, and luscious. 147 grams of RS. Pull the cork after 2015.James Suckling | 98 JSSquarely on the tropical side of the spectrum, with mango, papaya and pineapple fruit laced with a marmalade note. Long and very caressing through the finish, but never heady or overpowering, as orange pâte de fruit, ginger and singed almond accents lend cut and precision. Shows the heat of the vintage while retaining energy and drive. Impressive.—Non-blind Yquem vertical (July 2014). Drink now through 2040.Wine Spectator | 97 WSThe average June temperature for 2003 was the warmest ever recorded at Yquem since they installed their first weather station in 1896. And things were only just starting to heat up. This notoriously hot vintage nonetheless produced some very pleasant Bordeaux surprises, Yquem being one. As readers can guess, obtaining the necessary sugar levels was not the problem this year. If it was a question of sugar alone, berries could well have been harvested in August. But come September, the wait was on for the botrytis. Fortunately, a little rain beginning on the 5th of September kick-started proceedings, and with the help of continued warm temperatures, the noble rot took off like a rocket! After this, frenetic harvesting and strict selection ensued. Harvest was over in a record nine days, resulting in a super rich, concentrated and full botrytized expression that beautifully does justice to both the vintage and to Yquem.Medium lemon-gold colored, the 2003 d’Yquem seems to be emerging from a slumber, awakening with gloriously expressive notes of ginger ale, pineapple upside-down cake, toasted hazelnuts, star anise, cinnamon stick and preserved mandarin peel plus hints of lemon butter, crushed rocks, musk perfume and chalk dust. Full-bodied, super concentrated and decadently unctuous, the palate exudes waves of preserved tropical fruits and citrus sparks charged with energetic freshness, finishing epically long and wonderfully spicy. Alcohol is 13.5% this year, while the residual sugar comes in at a whopping 147 grams per liter, nicely balanced by a total acidity of 4.2 grams per liter H2SO4.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPThe 2003 Yquem was a homogenous harvest picked over a single trie between 17 and 26 September. It has a rich and opulent nose, crème brûlée, marmalade and a melted candle wax aroma. The palate has more to offer than the nose: fine acidity, less closed than the aromatics, touches of orange rind and mandarin developing with time. This is very commendable given that I do not consider it a great Sauternes vintage. Tasted from ex-château bottle in London.Vinous Media | 93 VM

This was the finest performance by this wine that I have seen since it was released. I did not expect the 2003 Chateau Margaux to show this well in a vintage where the southern part of the Medoc was clearly less impressive than the north. However, it is a beautiful, dark plum/purple-tinged effort with sensational aromatics, a full-bodied mouthfeel, and a youthfulness, precision and freshness that belie what one generally associates with this vintage. It can be drunk now and over the next 15-20 years. Kudos to Chateau Margaux.Robert Parker | 98 RPA wine with spices, meat, and very ripe fruit on the nose, with hints of dried flowers. Full bodied, and deeply layered, with loads of fruit and spices. Long and decadent, very complex. Pull the cork after 2013. Find the wine.James Suckling | 97 JSFull, saturated red-ruby. Knockout nose combines redcurrant, tropical chocolate, leather, woodsmoke and nutty oak with exotic chocolate mint and coffee liqueur; still manages to retain floral lift even in this beastly vintage. Then wonderfully fat, sweet and full, even if it comes across as almost heavy following the ineffable 2005 and 2004 examples. But "relatively inelegant" for Margaux still suggests a degree of refinement that few chateaux can match in the greatest vintages. A hugely rich and dense wine that finishes with elevated but ripe tannins and great length, with a subtle suggestion of dry spices. Pontallier says the terroir will take over in 20 years, "like with the ’82." Splendid.Vinous Media | 96 VMThis may be from the exceptional vintage of 2003, but Château Margaux remains true to form. First and foremost, it is a refined, elegant wine, with complex layers of flavors. But, yes, the hot summer is there the dense, dry tannins, but somehow they seem to float through the wine rather than sitting heavily in the middle. Acidity and freshness come to finish, giving the wine a delicious lift. Imported by Diageo Chateau & Estates.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WEShows a note of torrefaction typical of the vintage, but uses it to its advantage, coupling it with accents of ganache and dark tobacco leaf along with rich plum, currant and fig compote flavors. The finish is slightly firm, with alder and plum skin details, but this has pretty impressive composure considering the vintage.-Blind ’01/’03/’05 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2017). Drink now through 2035. 10,833 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WSNo written review provided. | 93 W&S

This shows lots of mulled spice, warm tobacco leaf and well-roasted cedar accents, but isn’t short on fruit, offering enticing layers of red currant, plum and blackberry confiture. The long finish is riddled with sweet smoke, black tea and iron notes. A gorgeous wine from an overlooked vintage.--Non-blind Mouton-Rothschild vertical (March 2017). Best from 2020 through 2035. 23,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WSI drank this 2004 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild the other night at home with some wine producers. I decanted it only right before serving - a mistake made while concentrating on the cooking food. On the nose there were coffee and chocolate aromas with hints of vanilla. It was super fruity, and its medium body was coupled with beautifully soft tannins. This is just coming around now and it’s very New World in style. Overall, a much overlooked vintage from Mouton.James Suckling | 94 JSSupple and grand, Mouton has a heavenly richness in 2004. The flavors are saturated with blackberry and black-cherry fruit, bright on the aroma, quieter and softer in the end. The wine has a laconic beauty, closed off behind its oak and stony tannin. With several days of air, the succulence of the fruit grows more prominent as it will with 15 to 20 years of age.Wine & Spirits | 94 W&SThe 2004 Mouton Rothschild is supple, forward and inviting. Dark cherry, plum, tobacco and grilled herbs are all pushed forward. This is an especially succulent Mouton, partly because of the high percentage of Merlot that was common during this era. Gravel, pencil shavings, smoke and cured meats add myriad shades of nuance on the powerful, explosive finish. Philippe Dhalluin told me he waited as long as possible to harvest in 2004, the driest vintage Mouton had seen up until that point. The blend is 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot harvested between September 29 and October 15.Vinous Media | 93 VMA wine that is powerful, highly extracted and intense. The chocolate flavors and serious, dry tannins go with big, fat blackberry fruits and finishing acidity.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WEIt is probably unfair to appraise this wine with more mature siblings. It has a deep garnet core. There is good intensity on the nose with cedar, tobacco, pine forest and blackberry leaf. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins, quite masculine and obdurate at the moment with a grainy, austere finish. Moderate length. It needs to muster more charm but I remain cautiously optimistic. Robert Parker Neal Martin | 92 RP-NM

Enticing ruby red body, with aromatics that show a touch of orange zest and turmeric spice. The fruit is creamy, intense, a brilliant Palmer that has finesse and balance but a serious kick. Black pepper, cinammon, raspberry, bilberry fruits, smoked earth and campfire on the finish, so juicy, totally salivating with a slate-textured close of play. Delicious, and a great sign that the 2005 vintage is starting to swing open. Harvest September 22 to October 7, 60% new oak. A long dry summer, with 57% less rainfall than usual, although temperatures never climbed as high as in 2003. Impossible to stop smiling after this.Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux | 100 JAIts bigger sister, the 2005 Château Palmer (53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 7% Petit Verdot), is one of the great efforts of this superlative vintage. Floral notes mixed with blackberry, cassis, plum, licorice and spring flowers soar from the glass of this dense ruby/purple wine. It is medium to full-bodied, surprisingly opulent (it has a big percentage of Merlot), long, multi-dimensional and textured. This wonderfully pure, stunning wine once again performs as a first-growth. It should drink well for the next 20-25 years.Robert Parker | 98 RPThe 2005 Palmer has been absolutely magical both times I have tasted it recently. Still wonderfully deep to the core, the 2005 is dense, packed to the core and luxuriously opulent. Even with all of that intensity, the 2005 remains vibrant. Lush red/purplish berry fruit, rose petal, lavender and sweet spice build into the towering finish. The 2005 is an epic wine that will have no problem reaching its fiftieth birthday. It is a rich, dramatic Margaux that checks all the boxes, and then some. I rated a second bottle even higher.Antonio Galloni | 98 AGThe 2005 was the first vintage where Thomas Duroux was in charge from beginning to end, having worked alongside his predecessor Bertrand Bouteiller on most of the 2004. Another great vintage in this all-star line-up, and the one that perhaps had the most exuberant sunny expression in the early years, although now at 15 years of age the tertiary aromatics are just starting to arrive, along with hints of earthiness and a savoury cassis fruit character as the Cabernet Sauvignon continues to dominate. There is a gentle truffled edging to the colour also, but the tannic frame is very much in play, and still cradling the fruit. A great wine that walks the tightrope between young and old Palmer, and between the welcome of a generous vintage and the natural elegance of a great Palmer. Harvest September 22 to October 7. Drinking Window 2020 - 2045.Decanter | 97 DECAromas of black tar, chocolate and berries lead to a wine that is so effortlessly delicious that it’s easy to forget the power the Merlot gives it. The center is round, but dark, filled with sweetness; the outer layers are full of red jelly and toast. There are tannins, but they, too, are sweet.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WENo written review provided. | 96 W&SFeatures a bright flash of bay leaf and savory out front, with streak of tobacco and cedar amid the relatively open core of black cherry and black currant fruit. The long finish has a terrific iron note ringing through. Among the more approachable of this group, but no less serious.—Blind ’01/’03/’05 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2017). Drink now through 2030. 10,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WSWhat a nose of milk chocolate, with raspberries and hints of plums and flowers. A wonderful nose. Full-bodied, with super velvety tannins and a chocolate, nut, and dark fruit character on the palate. The fine tannins and great balance make you want to drink this, but you should wait and let it all out. Pull the cork in 2016.James Suckling | 94 JS

A stunningly complex and complete nose of flowers, dark fruits, and minerals. Very perfumed and subtle at the same time. The palate is full, yet tight and powerful with perfect tannins and a long, long finish. The quality of the tannins is phenomenal, please leave this alone for ten years. Pull the cork in 2020.James Suckling | 99 JSAnother titanic effort from the Delon family, the 2005 Leoville Las Cases is probably the greatest wine made at this estate since Jean-Hubert Delon’s father produced the 1986 and 1996. Only 37% of the production made it into the 2005, a blend of primarily Cabernet Sauvignon with less than 13% Merlot and Cabernet Franc. An inky/ruby/purple color is accompanied by reticent aromatics that, with considerable coaxing, offer up subtle notes of toasty vanillin intermixed with lead pencil shavings, wet rocks, and enormously ripe, intense black cherry and creme de cassis. The wine hits the palate with a full-bodied, layered mouthfeel as well as enormous extract, concentration, and purity. This ageless, monumental claret requires a minimum of 15-20 years to approach maturity, and should last for a half century. It is about as classic a Leoville Las Cases as one will find. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2060Robert Parker | 98 RPSleek and racy, with black currant and fig fruit laced liberally with a bright iron streak and singed alder notes. This is very tightly coiled, as the fruit seems to be preserved for now, while the cold fireplace character holds sway. A superb energy in reserve gives this more than enough time to wait. Could outlast them all in this vintage.—Blind ’01/’03/’05 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2017). Best from 2025 through 2050. 15,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 98 WSHere is one more vintage to prove Las Cases deserves to be elevated to first growth. The Delon family has tended this great terroir as if they were already there. And the wine has the assured stance, the persistence of flavor that lasts long enough to become a memory, an imprint on whatever synaptic connection may store and recall the greatest pleasures of taste. The energy in the wine is remarkable: beautiful, lithe juice that carries a flavor close to tiny currants and black cherries, but a flavor all its own. The deep stones of Le Clos and the roses with their view of the Gironde seem to be there in the wine as well. Harmonious and jazzed. Perhaps this is the vintage. Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines, NYWine & Spirits | 98 W&SThe 2005 Léoville Las Cases is one of the most brooding, potent wines of the year. When will it be ready? The answer is not yet. Although I have had other bottles that have been showier. Inky, powerful and potent, the 2005 is a real showstopper. If opened now, the 2005 needs a good 12 hours in the decanter to start performing well. Over time, the 2005 shows it is just at the very beginning of a first plateau of maturity, with lovely aromatic complexity, layers of radiant fruit and tremendous structure to back it all up. The high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon (88%) foreshadows the style that has now become the norm. Time in the glass brings out the red/purplish fruit nicely. Still, I would prefer to give the 2005 a few more years in bottle. The 2005 is a must have for readers who love Las Cases. Tasted two times.Antonio Galloni | 97+ AGTo some, this is the best wine estate in St-Julien. Château Léoville Las Cases is one of the three Léovilles and is the largest at 97 hectares. Though the wine is a 2ème Cru Classé, or second growth, many see this old estate rivalling the first growths and have prices to match. I’ve been lucky enough to taste this a few times this year, and the last one (at a Christie’s dinner in early November) confirmed once again what an incredible wine this is. With a full 87% cabernet sauvignon, and the rest made up of merlot and cabernet franc, the colour here is rich ecclesiastical purple, and the fruit still tight and brooding, although it starts to soften up with a good carafing even now. It’s the texture of Léoville Las Cases that often hits you, and the confidence of a wine that knows it has years ahead of it. Dark fruits, bitter chocolate, black truffles, all perfectly in place. One to savour. Drinking Window 2015 - 2020Decanter | 97 DECA big wine with dense tannins, but so elegant. Dark, intense, with layers of acidity underneath that only show through at the end. Unusually, Cabernet Sauvignon dominates this wine, a sign of the ripeness of the Cabernet fruit.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WE

Stunning now. A fabulous nose of currants, crushed raspberry and blackberry. Full- bodied, with perfectly integrated tannins and a long, caressing finish. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 96 JSThe tannins dominate this dark, brooding wine. At this stage, it seems to have closed up, leaving the fruit and acidity buried. But with this concentration, the future looks promising. There is a long aging potential here.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WELagrange produced a joyous cabernet in 2005, with the lovely textural fatness and kindness of tannin that places it clearly in St-Julien. The dark fruit has youthful energy, the tannins a woodsy undertone, like biting into a fresh grilled porcini. The purity of the flavor makes it delicious; that fruit purity is the factor distinguishing the best wines of the vintage. In the case of Lagrange, it will make the wine approachable through the course of a long life; though if you find pleasure in the details, wait on this until it’s at least ten years old and check on it at twenty.Wine & Spirits | 94 W&SThe 2005 Lagrange was picked from 21 September until 10 October. It has a harmonious and vigorous bouquet with blackberry, cedar, tobacco aromas and just a light estuarine scent that emerges with time. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannins and much more mid-palate presence than prior vintages. There is more body and grip, a sense of boldness towards the finish that should stand it in good stead for long-term ageing. Superb. Tasted at the Lagrange vertical at the estate.Vinous Media | 93 VMCurrant, mineral, plum and light toasty oak follow through to a full body, with ultrasilky tannins and a long, caressing finish. This is thoroughly beautiful. Superbalanced and very pretty. Best after 2011. 24,165 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WS(Château Lagrange (St. Julien)) I really like the 2005 vintage of Château Lagrange, which will be an outstanding example of the vintage in due course. The bouquet is starting to show some nice secondary signs of development, though the wine remains still quite youthful on the palate. The nose wafts from the glass in a mix of black cherries, dark berries, cigar smoke, dark soil tones, nutty new oak and a topnote of tobacco leaf. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and rock solid at the core, with fine focus and grip, nascent complexity and a long, ripely tannic and tangy finish. The 2005’s fairly firm tannins and good acidity are going to make this an extremely long-lived wine, but they will also demand a bit more patience before starting to drink the ’05 Lagrange. (Drink between 2025-2085).John Gilman | 92+ JGLagrange 2005 is an impressive effort, if perhaps trying just a bit too hard. If the nose still shows a fair bit of wood, although the wine has the ripe blackcurrant fruit to balance this out. The tannins are firm and somewhat angular on the palate, giving a slightly austere feel to the finish. The blend is 46% Cabernet Sauvignon and 45% Merlot with 9% Petit Verdot, picked from 21 September, and aged in 60% new casks. Drinking Window 2021 - 2040.Decanter | 92 DEC

I’m not sure you need me to recap the weather conditions in 2005 as it’s such a famous, and relatively recent, year. Suffice to say, it was pretty close to a perfect year, with spots of heat but generally cool evenings that maintained a sense of freshness and poise. The colour difference is quite remarkable in comparison to the older vintages in the tasting, and even with nearly 15 years of age we are fully in primary colours with this 2005 - rich, purple-reds, not inky but full of life and intensity right through the body of the wine. On the palate you find touches of caramel and sweet, ripe fruit that’s handled expertly. It’s more gourmet than any other on display, but still with gorgeous freshness and traces of black pepper spice that give focus to the finish. It has an effortless balance that just makes you so happy to be drinking this wonderful vintage, from an estate that’s in no hurry to reveal its riches. Outside of the world of Bordeaux wine, Angela Merkel became head of the German government, following on from Gerhard Schroëder. Drinking Window 2018 - 2045Decanter | 94 DECWith its big fruit, and hearty tannins, this is a powerful, ripe wine, having great sweet blackberry flavors, a touch of smoke and a black fruit core. Round and opulent, this is a generous wine already.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WEComplex aromas of chocolate, currants, berries and sweet tobacco. Full body with fully integrated tannins that give a silky texture. Lovely tannins, fruit and acid balance. Just opening now. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 93 JSThe 2005 Talbot was picked from 22 September until 10 October. Having tasted this several times, this might be the best bottle. Deeper in colour than other vintages, it offers much more fruit: blackberry, bilberry and raspberry tinged with cedar and a faint estuarine tang. These aromatics just have more substance than other vintages. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, a fine bead of acidity. It is not the most complex 2005 Saint-Julien but there is grip and matière, notes of soy and black pepper lining the finish that will benefit from another two or three years in bottle. Very fine. Tasted at the centenary Château Talbot vertical at the property.Vinous Media | 92+ VMSweet tobacco, berry and currant aromas follow through to a full body, with soft, silky tannins and a fresh, racy aftertaste of currant and mineral. The texture of the tannins is very beautiful. Best after 2016.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

This is monumental. Just a baby with a fresh and intense mouthfeel and density. Full-bodied, velvety and layered. Decadent and rich. A folly of a wine. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 100 JSEven more flamboyant and sexy than the 2000, the 2005 Pavie has everything you could ever want from a wine. Deep, inky purple-colored, an awesome perfume of cassis, blackberries, toasty oak, graphite, and incredible minerality, full body, sweet tannin, and a blockbuster finish all make for an extraordinary Saint-Emilion. It’s still a baby but offers incredible pleasure today. It’s going to last for another 3-4 decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDGérard 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, which I had both in the 2005 horizontal report in the Wine Advocate, and at a mini-vertical with Perse at the restaurant Maison Boulud in Montreal, looks to be a 75- to 100-year wine. Dense, opaque purple to the rim, with a gorgeously promising nose of blackberries, cassis, graphite and cedar wood just beginning to emerge, it tastes more like a three-year-old than wine that is already a decade old. This beauty is intense and full-bodied, with magnificent concentration, a majestic mouthfeel and a total seamless integration of tannin, wood, alcohol, etc. Beautifully rich, full and multidimensional, this is a tour de force in winemaking and certainly one of the top dozen or so 2005 Bordeaux...Robert Parker | 100 RPExplosive and sumptuous in the glass, the 2005 Pavie captivates all the senses with its extraordinary beauty. The flavors are deep, racy and boldly sketched throughout. Tobacco, roasted coffee beans, smoke, black cherries and plums are some of the notes that are pushed forward in this seductive, flamboyant wine. Immensely powerful and gratifying, the 2005 has it all. This is an especially youthful bottle of the 2005, a wine that will drink well for decades. There is an immediacy to Pavie that makes it pretty much impossible to resist today. It is one of the showiest wines of this night.Antonio Galloni | 99 AGShows a frankly roasted edge, with steeped fig and boysenberry fruit inlaid liberally with roasted apple wood and juniper notes. The structure is a touch austere, which leaves it standing a bit apart from the core of fruit. Very weighty in feel, this is layered and dense, but also more on the muscular, extracted side of the ledger. Perhaps this is in a tough phase today. Will certainly hang around for a while, so there’s time to wait it out. But not quite in the class of the ’10 or ’03 for me.--Non-blind Pavie vertical (March 2017). Best from 2020 through 2040. 7,100 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WS

This is pure pleasure, with tiny pulses of electricity, brushed leather, sulphur, loam, truffle, blackberry, black cherry, with touches of silky tannins, smoked caramel and black chocolate. A wine that makes you smile, so much depth and power, barely out of its primary phase, but we are starting now to get the whole picture of what it will become. There is a lush edge to the tannins now that was not the case even two years ago. Such a different expression from the 2009 and 2010 Mouton, with this a little more old school in its charms, and for me you can now project yourself foraward, more like the 1986, a little dry and strict at first, but finessed and gorgeous, delivering grip, punch and magic. Eric Tourbier and Philippe Dhalluin on the technical team. 63% first wine, extremely low for the time (lowest since 1975, whereas today they are regularly below 50%). If you are going to open this anytime soon, think of it as a bottle to enjoy very slowly over four or five hours seeing the nuances develop. 100% new oak.Jane Anson | 100 JAThe 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 crème de cassis, melted asphalt, roasted espresso and cedarwood are present in this young, full-bodied, powerful, concentrated Mouton. Just beginning to enter its adolescence, it should hit full maturity in 10-15 years and last for 50 or more. The greatness of this vintage is increasingly apparent as the wines throw off their cloaks of tannin.Robert Parker | 99+ RPThis accelerates on the palate with incredibly ripe tannins and finesse. Full body, roasted fruit, leather and grilled meat. Dried flowers, too. It shows superb tannin backbone and polish. Tight and youthful. Just starting to open. Currant and berry undertones with lead pencil are impressive. Better in 2018 but so delicious now.James Suckling | 98 JSOne of the real highlights on the Left Bank, the 2005 Mouton Rothschild is a dark, potent Pauillac. Black cherry, plum, chocolate, spice and leather all take shape in the glass. The 2005 is a dense, powerful and explosive wine endowed with tremendous energy and pure power. The fruit is just starting to emerge, but Mouton remains a very tight, super-classic wine. With time in the glass, some of the natural richness and radiance of the year starts to emerge. Even so, the 2005 is still very young and closed. A few more years in bottle will only be beneficial. Impressive. Tasted two times.Antonio Galloni | 98 AG(Château Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, Red) Mouton was voluptuous and immediately appealing, with spicy ripe cassis and plum fruit that poured from the glass, surrounded by liquorice, coconut, and toasted cedar. The texture was not abrasive but very full-bodied and round. The tannins initially appeared fine-grained and silky, but with a bit of time, one realised the immense structure of this wine. Impressively concentrated and very long on the finish, this is still youthful and should age for decades to come. The blend is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon with 14% Merlot, with a touch of Cabernet Franc. The picking for the grand vin started on 21 September for the Merlot and finished with the Cabernets on 3 October. (Drink between 2021-2040)Decanter | 98 DECGorgeous, with singed alder and juniper notes starting to strut their stuff, while the immense core of steeped red currant, blackberry and plum fruit continues to wait in reserve. A light sanguine thread weaves in on the back end, which is driven by a serious bolt of iron. Shows terrific grip, length and cut. A brick-house Pauillac built for the long haul.--Non-blind Mouton-Rothschild vertical (March 2017). Best from 2020 through 2050.Wine Spectator | 98 WSIf 2005 was a rich year, Mouton reaches the heights of richness. Almost too rich, too New World, but you have to be impressed by the aromatic intensity of the black fruits, the dense, firm tannins, and the superripe black juice and licorice flavors. The wood is still too overpowering and needs time to settle in.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WE

A joyous Lascombes, this is the first vintage to hit stride since the US investment firm Colony Capital took over in 2001. It’s a meaty wine draped in fragrant tannin, built for long aging. It’s also an exuberant wine, in both the bright, red currant-scented fruit and the bristle of the tannin. A playfully complex flavor lasts for minutes, the wine still youthful and fresh four days after it was opened. Margaux chic.Wine & Spirits | 94 W&SDark in color, with an impressive nose of licorice, toasty oak, chocolate and blackberry. Full-bodied, with silky tannins and a long, caressing finish. Very pretty and structured. Best after 2012. 25,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WS(52% cabernet sauvignon, 45% merlot and 3% petit verdot) Good bright ruby. Blueberry and licorice on the nose, lifted by spicy oak. Chewy, lush and dense, but with a sappy quality giving shape to the fruit. Very tactile, solid wine with a saline quality suggesting energetic extraction. But this offers impressive mouth coverage and finishes broad and long, with nicely restrained sweetness. Wait until 2011.Vinous Media | 89-92 VMLascombes is approaching the form its status as a second growth suggests. This wine is close, packed with dark fruits, figs and juicy black currant extract. The aftertaste has some bitterness, with layers of toast and spice coming through strongly.Wine Enthusiast | 91 WE

Of the recent, highly-praised vintages in Bordeaux- 2000, 2005, 2009 and 2010, only the 2005 vintage stands out for me as a truly great vintage on the Gironde, with the others masquerading power and overripe fruit as if it were true greatness in the making. However, 2005 is a completely different animal and this is really and truly a great year, but one that is built for the very long haul. It is very rare for a Bordeaux vintage to offer outstanding acidity and excellent ripeness in the same vintage (unless it is a pruney drought year like 2010, which is okay if one wants Amarone, rather than claret). The 2005 Figeac is a perfect example of just how great this vintage is on both sides of the Gironde, as it offers up a deep and stunning bouquet of black cherries, plums, dark chocolate, tobacco leaf, dark soil tones, woodsmoke and toasty new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and rock solid at the core, with lovely nascent complexity peeking out from behind its closed structure. The finish is very, very long, tangy and ripely tannic, with impeccable balance and enormous potential. A great Figeac and a great homage to the superb job that Éric d’Aramon did during his days at the helm here. (Drink between 2025-2100)John Gilman | 97 JGInteresting aromas of cedar, tobacco, dark fruits, cinnamon, and cigar box. Full and solid, with chewy tannins. A very direct, straight, and pure wine with lovely freshness. This is starting to close, give this some time.James Suckling | 95 JSThe tightrope stage of a wine as it shifts from young to mature, the tertiary notes coming to the fore are very welcome in its second decade, although it is perhaps just a little more evolved than I would expect. But this is stunning, there is so much hidden power, with layers of complex cedar, rose petal and soft woodsmoke. As it opens in the glass, the slight dryness on the finish becomes more apparent, but so does the sweet gentleness of this vintage. It can clearly still age for a good few decades, but would also be ready to drink with some decanting first. The 36hl/ha yield in this vintage is due mainly to the extremely dry summer.Drinking Window 2017 - 2038Decanter | 95 DECThis is plush and warm in feel, with lots of currant and fig preserve flavors rolling through, inlaid with tobacco, warm stone and bittersweet cocoa notes. Shows a hefty dose of roasted alder on the finish, but in general this has been absorbed, making this a step ahead in terms of evolution, but there’s no rush, as a racy iron streak is just starting to show up.—Blind ’01/’03/’05 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2017). Drink now through 2035. 8,333 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WSThe predominance of Cabernet Sauvignon in Figeac has won out in 2005. It shows in the delicious black currant fruits and very fresh, vibrant acidity. The tannins, curiously, are less apparent—maybe all that fruit overwhelms them. Only on the finish is there some austerity and firmness. Wine Enthusiast | 93 WEA silken, elegant Merlot, this has a youthful blue tinge to its color and luscious energy to its plummy fruit. It’s bold and powerful, but it doesn’t feel pushed. The pinpoint detail of the tannins provides a beautiful richness that expands with air. A touch exotic, that richness brings Kobe beef to mind, a match for this wine when it’s had some time to mature.Wine & Spirits | 93 W&SThe finest Figeac since the 1990 and 1982, the restrained, but complex 2005 exhibits notes of black olives, new saddle leather, tobacco leaf, and sweet cherry and black currant fruit. The wine is medium-bodied with racy tannins as well as a streamlined style built on finesse and delicacy rather than on power and concentration. Consume it over the next 15-20 years.Robert Parker | 90 RP

This sensational, opaque blue/purple-colored wine from Smith Haut Lafitte has a gorgeous floral nose with notes of graphite, blueberries, blackberries, and cassis that jump from the glass of this inky, very dense, yet strikingly pure wine. Light on its feet despite its stunning concentration and multi-layered mouthfeel, this wine has fabulous intensity, richness and length. Quite impressive, and still incredibly youthful, this is a superstar of the vintage, and capable of lasting another 25-30 years.Robert Parker | 98 RPThe 2005s from Bordeaux continue to show youthfully, yet spectacularly well! The 2005 Smith-Haut-Lafitte is a prime example of the vintage and offers a huge, rich, concentrated style as well as classic dark fruits, tobacco, scorched earth and graphite aromas and flavors. While this is a tannic vintage, the tannins here are sweet and polished and covered by fruit. With stunning purity of fruit, notable freshness, and a great, great finish, drink this beauty anytime over the coming two decades. (Drink between 2018-2038)Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JDI had two wines on the night of my birthday this year, shared among four of us on the terrace of Rouge bar at Sources de Caudalie hotel in Martillac. The first was Château Oliver 2014, a white wine that I have long championed as being one of the best in Bordeaux. Both were beautiful, but this Smith Haut Lafitte stood out for its grace, and its generosity of spirit. A blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, the tannins were sweet, softened but still confident, rich with autumnal fruits, just the right dash of chocolate and liquorice without straying over the line. A wonderful bottle shared with some of my dearest friends, is there anything better? Oh, and the date of my birthday by the way, June 22nd. The day before the EU referendum. Somehow the year seemed more peaceful then – and it makes this wine all the sweeter.Decanter | 95 DECAn impressive nose of spices, dark fruits, and fresh forest flowers. Full-bodied, this has a solid core of fruit and super polished tannins. A fabulous wine, showing great structure and harmony, and a long, long finish. Beautiful stuff. Pull the cork in 2015.James Suckling | 95 JSThe 2005 Smith Haut Lafitte packs a serious punch. A blast of wild cherry, smoke, leather, tobacco and mint hits the palate as this powerhouse Pessac-Léognan shows off its personality. Black cherry, mocha, rose petal, spice and chocolate all saturate the palate. This is an especially lush, potent wine shaped by density, concentration and plenty of oak. I would prefer to drink the 2005 sooner rather than later, as it is starting to fray just a bit. Tasted two timesAntonio Galloni | 94 AGMulled blackberry, fig and black currant fruit leads the way here, as this has a richness that imparts appeal now, while ample bay leaf, tobacco and humus accents keep this grounded through the finish. Delivers a lovely mix of sweetness of fruit and mouthwatering savory notes. Wine Spectator | 94 WSThe Cathiards have invested heavily in this property since they purchased it in the early 1990s. It is one of the great terroirs of the Graves, a raised plateau of gravel where the vines produce a rich and powerful wine. That power is amplified in a vintage like 2005 into a huge, cassis-driven red with the velvet feel of a favorite childhood pillow. The Cathiards do not spare the new oak, a character that dominates this young wine, while the fruit underneath feels healthy and clean, vibrating with tension, set for a long life ahead.Wine & Spirits | 94 W&SFull-bodied, this wine shows really ripe, generous fruit flavors, touched by wood, very round and intense. As an indication of its immaturity, the wood comes through to dominate the fruit. Give it 2–3 years.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WE

A meaty and decadent Lynch with very ripe currant aromas on the nose. Full body, velvety-textured tannins and a powerful finish. It shows so much structure and fruit yet remains polished and focused. Lovely now to drink but better in 2017.James Suckling | 96 JSTextbook, with mouthfilling and slightly gutsy black currant, fig and blackberry fruit flavors bound together by singed cedar, iron and tobacco notes. Features a tug of loam followed by a second wave of fruit through the finish. This is just starting to stretch out.—Blind ’01/’03/’05 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2017). Best from 2020 through 2040. 35,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSClassic Lynch-Bages with just a bit of extra power and richness. While the tannins are structured, it is the velvety fruit that rolls around the mouth that is the most dominant character. It is coming together into a wine that will be big and dense, but never over the top.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WEThe 2005 Lynch-Bages is a surprising wine. Whereas so many 2005s have begun to enter their first plateau of early maturity, the 2005 comes across as still young and in need of further cellaring! The purity of the fruit is striking. Readers who want to get the full Lynch-Bages experience will have to wait at least a few more years. The 2005 is a wine of substance and depth, with all of the raciness that is typical of this wine. It is one of the dark horses of the vintage, and still has room to go. Impressive.Antonio Galloni | 95+ AGAlmost forward but still young; spicy cassis lifts and lengthens its rich dark berry flavours. One of the best Lynch-Bages ever.Decanter | 94 DECAs for the 2005 Lynch-Bages, it is a sexy, surprisingly soft and accessible style of wine, with a deep ruby/purple color, loads of crème de cassis, cedar wood and forest floor notes, medium to full body, ripe tannin and a long, fleshy finish. Drink it over the next 15+ years.Robert Parker | 92 RP

The 2005 Latour was mind-blowingly profound in two recent tastings for this report. Deep and sensual to the core, the 2005 is utterly captivating. All the elements are so seamlessly put together. Graphite, crème de cassis, licorice, dark spice and lavender infuse the 2005 with so much energy. More than anything else, though, the 2005 is a Latour of texture and resonance. Even after several hours, the 2005 is fresh and full of energy. Wines like this are just life affirming. That’s about all I can really say. Tasted two times.Vinous Media | 100 VMHow rare to confront a wine of this inner strength and perfect form. Grown at a 116-acre vineyard at the southern border of Pauillac, some of the vines now reaching 100 years of age on a gravel bar overlooking the Gironde, Latour harvests cabernet sauvignon with natural power. I could describe it as colors, from glistening ruby to purple-black then back to scarlet tannins that vibrate in red. Or just the pure, unadulterated flavor of black currant, unformed as a child is unformed, beautiful as a child is beautiful. However I might describe it, the wine is stronger than I am and will outlast me by decades. This is the most provocative and most brilliant Latour I have tasted on release. Diageo Château & Estate Wines, NYWine & Spirits | 100 W&SA great wine, the summation of a great vintage in Bordeaux. The core of richness, the dense, bone-dry tannins, the black currants, red berries and black plum skins are the elements, but it’s the way they have been integrated that makes this such an impressive wine. There is great elegance as well, a fabulous counterpoint to such power. Cellar for at least 15 years, but this will keep forever. Imported by Diageo Chateau & Estates and multiple U.S. importers.Wine Enthusiast | 100 WEVery open and beautiful now with currants, light chocolate and spices. Incense as well. Full-bodied, tight and reserved with a fantastic center palate of fruit and firm tannins. Closed and hiding behind the structure and depth. Needs time to open still but already a joy to taste (drink!). James Suckling | 99 JSDark ruby black in color. Brilliant, intense aromas of mineral, blackberry and currant, with hints of Indian spices and cigar box, lead to a full-bodied palate, with ultrafine tannins and a beautiful balance of blackberry, raspberry and mineral. There’s subtlety, yet also great depth. Lasts for minutes on the palate. This is a Latour with fabulous tone and vigor. Best after 2018. 12,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 99 WSA massive, powerful wine that tastes like the essence of the great estate, the 2005 Château Latour is based on 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and the balance Merlot and Petit Verdot brought up in new barrels. It reveals a saturated purple/plum color as well as a gorgeous bouquet of blackcurrants, graphite, gravelly earth, tobacco, lead pencil, and chocolate. Dense, full-bodied, and massively concentrated, it has the more austere, masculine style of the estate front and center, yet has gorgeously sweet tannin, a stacked mid-palate, and a great, great finish. This profound, regal 2005 can be drunk any time over the coming 40-50 years, and I suspect even longer.Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JD2005 was a very dry, warm and sunny vintage, causing vine stress in some areas of Bordeaux. Harvested from September 26 to October 6, the tannin/IPT levels were very high this year. The 2005 Latour is blended of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, with the rest Merlot and Petit Verdot. It is the biggest surprise of this tasting—until now, the wine was relatively closed and broody, but today the wine is just starting to reveal its personality—and what a stunner! Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it opens with provocative floral scents of roses and violets over a core of fresh blackcurrants, chocolate-covered cherries and black raspberries with hints of fertile loam, unsmoked cigars and black tea. Medium to full-bodied, firm, grainy and packed with muscular fruit, it has an epically long, savory finish sparked by floral notes. 12,000 cases were made.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98+ RPThe Latour was magnificent but is now, unfortunately, in something of a dumb phase. The aromas showed a balanced mix of red and black fruit with appropriate accents from the maturation in new casks and the trademark earthy undercurrent accented with tar and leather notes. The extract has a substantial feel, and yet the tannins remain silky. One has the sense that, like all Latour, it will age exceedingly well, but it is far from showing its full potential. The blend is 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Merlot, and picking began on 26 September. Drinking Window 2021 - 2040.Decanter | 95 DEC

This appears to be the synthesis of the fabulous 2001 and 2003. It shows wonderful aromas of botrytis spice, honey and citrus rind. Lots of fruit with a tropical fruit undertone of mango and papaya on the palate. Intense finish. Too excellent not to drink.James Suckling | 97 JSDelivers lots of botrytis spice, with lemon tart and cooked apple. Full-bodied, with loads of cream and vanilla and an intense tropical fruit and honey aftertaste. Long and viscous, with a layered and beautiful spicy finish. Hard not to drink it now. Best after 2014. 8,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 97 WSTypical of the huge power of Guiraud, this is one of the richest Sauternes in 2005. The wine is rich and intense, the dry edge of botrytis just dominating the sweetness. Flavors of honey, almonds and peaches give the wine extra complexity.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WESeething with power, there’s baritone richness to this wine’s complex fruit, a deeper tone to the surface of honey and citrus. It feels clean, fresh and bright, the structure holding the wine’s complexity tight for now, waiting to release it with age.Wine & Spirits | 95 W&S(Château Guiraud) Château Guiraud has long been one of my favorite estates in Sauternes, with its higher percentage of sauvignon blanc in the blend always producing an exotically styled wine with more grassiness and wild herbaceous tones than is customarily found in wines from this region, but which I find both unique and compelling. It seems to me that the flip side of a higher percentage of sauvignon blanc in the blend at Guiraud demands that the wine be given a bit more bottle age than some of its neighbors, and I often find that Guiraud can be overlooked a bit at early horizontal tastings of a new vintage of Sauternes, as its youthful reticence and grassy profile can stick out a bit amongst more classically profiled wines such as Climens, Suduiraut or Rieussec. But in my experience it certainly deserves to be ranked up with those fine properties. However, the 2005 Guiraud is uncharacteristically showing charmingly right out of the blocks, as it offers up a complex and beautiful bouquet of pear, oranges, gentle herbal tones, incipient notes of honey, soil and a nice framing of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, pure and elegant, with lovely mid-palate depth, sound acids and lovely length and grip on the very refined finish. Lovely juice. (Drink between 2020-2050)John Gilman | 92 JGFull golden-yellow. Orange oil, clove, ginger, mint and minerals on the perfumed, vibrant noise. Superrich but juicy and vibrant, with an exotic hint to the fresh apricot and peach flavors. This boasts an exhilarating sugar/acid balance and finishes with terrific life and grip. Lafaurie-Peyraguey.Vinous Media | 92+ VMTasted blind at the 10-Year On Tasting in Sauternes. The 2005 Château Guiraud has a rich nose of dried honey, orange blossom and buttercup that is nicely defined but does not quite have the intensity of the best Sauternes 05s. The palate is fresh and lithe on the entry, smooth and honeyed both in taste and texture with a long orange zest, vanilla and almond finish that is sensual and persistent. It meliorates in the glass, forages more zest and vitality, so don’t be afraid to aerate/decant this for an hour or two.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 92 RP-NM

Beautiful ruby red colour, rapsberry puree and cocoa dusting aromatics, still young, a wonderfully embracing tannic frame, rapsberrry, blueberry and loganberry fruits, slate-scraping minerality, just a gorgeous wine that is bursting out of the glass and still has so much more to give. Balanced, mouthwatering, persistent, just at the start of its long and pleasure-filled life, showcasing so much that is wonderful about 2005. Get on board. This is a 2 point higher score than the last time I tasted in April 2021, reflecting that the 2005s are just right now beginning to open up.Jane Anson | 96 JATight and dense still but so integrated and seamless in texture. Aromas of chocolate, hazelnuts, dried spices and currants. Full body, superfine tannins and a texture that is so caressing and beautiful. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 94 JSTasted from an ex-château bottle at BI Wine & Spirits Calon-Segur dinner in London, the 2005 Calon Segur is on par with the wonderful 2000. The only real difference is that this needs more time in bottle. It has a captivating nose: blackberry and boysenberry fruit coming at you at full pelt; dried blood and bacon fat developing as secondary aromas just behind. There is fine delineation here - an underlying mineralité sure to surface with time. The palate is very intense and disarmingly youthful, almost ferrous on the entry with layers of ripe black fruit that segue into an earthy finish (with a curious light tang of Marmite on the aftertaste!). It is a fabulous Calon Ségur, though the millennial wine might ultimately possess greater precision. We will see. Tasted March 2015.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 94 RP-NMHas a beautiful nose of crushed berry, spices and nutmeg, with a hint of coffee. Then turns to licorice. Full-bodied, with supersilky tannins and a long finish of vanilla, berry and cinnamon. Beautifully crafted. Best after 2014. 17,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WSFirm and structured, the Calon-Ségur remains surprisingly muscular. Produced from a blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and a splash of Petit Verdot, all aged in new casks, this shows a bright redcurrant and mint nose with a bit of spice and smoke. The feel on the palate is tannic and firm, perhaps lacking a bit of generosity at this point, but the rich extract suggests that with time it should come around. Drinking Window 2021 - 2040.Decanter | 93 DEC(Château Calon-Ségur) The 2005 vintage at Calon-Ségur was comprised of more than fifty percent merlot, and while the wine is a good wine in its way, it lacks the brightness, soil signature and classic profile of the wines from 2006 forwards. The bouquet is deep, reserved and shows admirable depth in its constellation of dark berries, tobacco leaf, woodsmoke, espresso, herb tones, a touch of hoisin sauce, dark soil and nutty new wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and nascently complex, with good purity at the rock solid core, firm tannins and excellent length and grip on the black fruity and still very youthful finish. Qualitatively, this is clearly the equivalent of the 2006, but I have a far stronger preference for the style of the latter vintage, as this is just missing a bit of spark from all of its merlot in the blend. A very good wine, but not a classic Calon-Ségur. (Drink between 2022-2050)John Gilman | 92 JGDeep, bright ruby-red. Deeply pitched aromas of black raspberry, black cherry, leather, smoked meat, earth and menthol. Chewy, brooding and deep, with concentrated black cherry, menthol, mineral and leather flavors framed by a powerful spine of acids and tannins. Really saturates the palate on the tannic back end. I’d give this classic St. Estephe a decade of aging, at which time this wine may well merit an even higher score.Vinous Media | 92+ VM