A gravel wash of tannin creates the structural base for this wine, spreading red currant and licorice root flavors through a long finish. The fruit is bold and supple, the mineral flavor providing tension that will...

Stately ruby red, raspberry and cassis fruits, still young, needs another few years to fully open and integrate, but everything is there for a brilliant wine with pleasure. This is a château that always takes its time...

91+ Tasted single blind at Southwold. This is a little simplistic on the nose with a touch of the old blackcurrant wine gums but fresh and lively. The palate has some dryness: austere and backward with compressed dusty...

The bright amber-colored 2005 Trockenbeerenauslese No. 7 Grande Cuvée Nouvelle Vague opens with a pure and clear, fascinating, precise and elegant, slightly balsamic bouquet of stewed apricots, leaves, salt and pepper. On...

The 2005 Latour is made from 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-brick in color, it gallops out of the glass with incredibly youthful, powerful creme de cassis, blackberry pie, and plum...

The 2005 Château Le Pin is all Merlot from a tiny vineyard just across from Vieux Château Certain and was raised in new barrels. It has a massive nose of ripe blackberries, kirsch, saddle leather, smoked tobacco, and...

The 2005 Climens has an intense nose, dried honey and a touch of glycerine, tangerine and barley sugar. The palate is well balanced with a viscous opening, tangy marmalade mixed with white peach and white pepper, gaining...

Harvested at the end of September and a blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc that saw 80% new oak, the 2005 Clos De L'Oratoire is a healthy ruby hue and reveals a gorgeous perfume of red and black fruits, white...

The purity of fruit in this is fascinating with plums, currants and other dark fruits. Then there is another layer of spices and chocolate. So much cassis. Full and very layered with chewy polished tannins and a long...

Firm plum in colour, this grabs you straight off the bat. A beautifully rich nose, still young with a relatively closed tannic frame, will open further over the next few years, but the silky depths to the texture are...

A beautiful, pure wine that combines freshness and intense richness. It seems to float while still giving a huge mouthful of plums, coffee and sweet, juicy tannins. A straight line of pure flavor all the way to the...

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...

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...

Just about pure perfection, the 2005 La Mondotte checks in as 55% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon, from tiny yields, that was raised in a mix of new and used barrels. This still youthful, deep...

An incredible nose, so subtle with red fruits, mint, minerals, and all sorts of flowers give way to Cohiba cigar tobacco. The palate has such freshness and density, with perfectly polished tannins. Slightly leathery, like...

A gravel wash of tannin creates the structural base for this wine, spreading red currant and licorice root flavors through a long finish. The fruit is bold and supple, the mineral flavor providing tension that will...

Very classy with plenty of raspberry, currant, and licorice character. This is dense and compacted on the palate. Leave it for at least two or three years from now.

I believe that the 2005 DP is the best since 2002, which remains the best recent vintage and is probably only eclipsed by the amazing 100-point 1996. The 2005 is a full-bodied DP with so much richness and loads of ripe...

One of the strongest efforts I have ever tasted from Alain Vauthier, his small St.-Emilion estate, Moulin Saint-Georges, has turned in a gorgeous 2005 with an opaque purple color and a sweet nose of blueberry and black...

I think the 2005 Château Mouton Rothschild is pure perfection, and is has a ripe, powerful, yet weightless style not far off the 1982. A blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc brought up...

Warm plum in colour, with aromatics of fennel and aniseed. Flavours major on crayon, smoked earth, concentrated raspberry and blackberry fruits that have generosity and power. A kick of mint and hedgerow, with...

Sadly only 415 cases are being made from this 9+ acre vineyard that averages 46 years of age. Planted on a high limestone plateau above Pavie it is composed of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. A spectacular offering...

The 2005 vintage of Clos des Goisses is a stellar wine. The cépages this year is sixty-five percent pinot noir and thirty-five percent chardonnay. It was disgorged in March of 2014 after eight years aging sur latte and...

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...