2005 Bordeaux

Château Beychevelle

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 2005

#AgedWineTuesday

Dark ruby in color with a short reddish rim.

Nose of blueberries, black plums, cooked cherries, oak, licorice, earth, tobacco leaf, herbs, peppercorn and mediterranean spices.

Medium plus in body with medium acidity.

Dry on the palate with black currants, black plums, blackberries, light cedar, earth, herbs, dark chocolates, tobacco leaf, light forest floor and black pepper.

Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy raspberries.

This 21 year old 4th growth Bordeaux is drinking beautifully now. Still showing enough fruits to balance the earth notes. Rich, elegant and very complex and engaging.

This iconic 2005 vintage is drinking very nicely now, and drinking at its peak. Will continue to drink nicely in the next 10 years. Nicely balanced with a soft mouthfeel.

I had this vintage 2 years ago, and it is drinking much better now, and very approachable right out of the bottle.

Wine Enthusiasts 93 points. Wine Advocate 93 points.

Good by itself as a sipping wine or with food.

A blend of 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot.

13% alcohol by volume.

93 points.

$200.
— 6 days ago

Dawn, Jay and 17 others liked this

Château Mouton Rothschild

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2005

Tasted blind . Slightly more mature colour than 1 . Ruby with some garnet and a more garnet tinged rim . Cooler more mineral on the nose , touches of grafite and wet rocks , sea spray , with some dark spicy cassis . On the palate this is more dark cassis , spicy grafite , cedar , touch of iron filings . Good roundness on the palate , with dusty tannins and balanced acidity, intense and saline . Long cedar tinged grafite length . Quite intense and stlight sterner overall , a little more aloof , more Cabernet , darker in style. Better in 5-10 years and will last well a further 10-20. Had this as Margaux . My 5th placed wine . — 3 months ago

Tom, Somm and 8 others liked this

Château Figeac

St. Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend 2005

Funky on the nose, smooth on the tongue — 6 months ago

Château Palmer

Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend 2005

2 hour decant(little fine sediment). A splendid dark magenta with some bricking. On the nose: subdued but enticing notes of blackberry, cassis, cigar wrapper, clove, pine, maybe a touch of brett. Taste: silky, still youthful at 20 wine with blackberry, red fruit, graphite, spice, and a medium smokey licorice tar finish. YUM..good but expecting more for the year..will wait a few years for next attempt. — 9 months ago

Brenda Terzich-Garland
with Brenda
Tom, Douglas and 18 others liked this
Rob Brobst III

Rob Brobst III Influencer Badge

@Tom Garland I have a small collection of 2005 Bordeaux. I might need to get a bottle this from ya!
Rob Brobst III

Rob Brobst III Influencer Badge

@Tom Garland and hold a private dinner to explore possibilities!!!
Tom Garland

Tom Garland

@Rob Brobst III Sounds fun! Pick em carefully...as Andrew said, some drinking well, while others need more time even at age 20. Cheers!

Château Brane-Cantenac

Grand Cru Classé en 1855 Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend 2005

Glorious mature Margaux. So perfect with our hangar steak on the bone. — 10 months ago

Ian Bathgate
with Ian

Château Rieussec

Sauternes Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend 2005

From 750-ml, this great Sauternes is hopelessly youthful at age 25, dried apricot, great acidity, long, lingering finish, top notch!! — a year ago

Jim Powers
with Jim
Jan, Zach and 8 others liked this

Château Lascombes

Margaux Merlot Blend 2005

So much lighter than the CA wines but delightful. Possible WOTN. — 2 months ago

Scott@Mister, Peter and 11 others liked this

Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2005

Somm David T
9.4

I remember when the 2005 Pichon Lalande was reviewed by RP, 89. I saw that & said, you would have to get in the way of the 2005 Bordeaux vintage to be that sad. I still bought 6 at a bargain basement price. A very good idea post 20 yrs+. Both Pichon’s don’t have a modern day history of getting in the way of a good vintage.

I also bought this one. 18 yrs in bottle and still acending. This will hold 5 more yrs and will last another 10 yrs properly stored.

I have visited Bordeaux 11 times. This chateau visually is still my favorite. It was showing a picture of this chateau to Sofia that launched our first visit. Sofia loved it and we have stared at it multiple times on every visit.

It was in our visit in 2007, I stood in the estate vineyard, looked & tasted their soils. After doing so, I said, “I get it.” I understood everything about what I was tasting in Left Bank Bordeaux’s early in my wine journey.

Sofia and I had dinner w/ Christian Moueix not long after the 2005 vintage was hyped/released. She asked him, when did you know you had something special?” He said, “as soon as I tasted the fruit at harvest.”

Tonight, it shows that it is a close relative, a sibling to Pichon Longueville. Cork, perfect.

The nose shows; classic left bank traits. Ripe, dark, brooding fruits, bright, mid berries, red cola, leather, tobacco, sandalwood, leather, led pencil, dark rich earth, limestone, dry river stone, hint of mushrooms, dark, red, fresh & withering florals.

The fruits on the palate show everything outstanding from the 2005 growing season. Ripe, juicy, brilliant; dark currants, blackberries, black raspberries, black plum skin, black cherries, baked/poached strawberries & some hovering raspberries. Dark chocolate bar to pudding, red cola, anise, dark spices w/ palate heat, dark, rich earth w/ dry leaves, pronounced graphite, dry tobacco, leather, limestone, dry twig, dry river stone, moist clays, moist herbs, cedar to sandalwood, withering & dry, dark flowers, red roses, some lavender & violets, beautiful rainfall acidity, excellent; balance, tension, structure, length w/ an elegant finish that lasts minutes and lands on spice & earth.

13.4 ABV. Nice.

#TheTwoHourRibcap

This held up vacuumed sealed the same night, refrigerated & enjoyed exactly a week later.
— 6 months ago

Peter, Scott@Mister and 16 others liked this
Bob McDonald

Bob McDonald Influencer Badge Premium Badge

@Somm David T A wonderful story David and I can see how you could fall in love with that photo of the Chateau.
Somm David T

Somm David T Influencer Badge

@Bob McDonald Thank you. Cheers! 🍷

Château d'Yquem

Sauternes Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend 2005

NY wine spectator eventp — 9 months ago

Juan, Bob and 12 others liked this

Château Margaux

Pavillon Rouge Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend 2005

Medium ruby garnet , quite thin garnet ruby rim . Quite rounded blackberry , cassis , red plum , violet, cedar and burnt embers . On the palate this is quite elegant and red fruited ,red plum , cherry , blackberry and hint of red currant . Quite rounded and generous , balanced acidity and suave , velvety tannins . Medium length , with slightly smoky red fruit finish . This is showing well now , and is the middle of its drinking window . Now and over the next 5 years or so — 10 months ago

Dave, Tom and 9 others liked this

Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2005

Still tight. Let em sleep. — a year ago

Bob, Austin and 18 others liked this

Château Pavie

Saint-Èmilion Grand Cru Red Bordeaux Blend 2005

Very mature and atypical for this producer. — a month ago

Bob, Shay and 1 other liked this

Château Margaux

Premier Grand Cru Classé Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend 2005

Tasted blind . Médium deep ruby with medium wide ruby rim , slightly younger looking than the rest. Quite spicy dark fruits , touch of pain grillé , mineral , grafite , cedar . On the palate this has a lot of grip and density , but also great balance . Spicy dark fruits , touch of grafite and earthy cedar . Quite rounded mouthfeel. Balanced acidity and grippy ripe tannins . Long balanced finish . Overall this showed well , with a roundness and balance , lovely fruit still , really quite open and fresh . With more time this show a floral character with lovely precision . Of all the wines this though very young is probably showing the most today . Even better in 5-10 years and will last well a further 10-20. Had this down as Haut Brion . This took the silver medal . 96
— 3 months ago

Tom, Somm and 2 others liked this
Somm David T

Somm David T Influencer Badge

Nice notes on what must have been a splendid night of 05 1st Growths.

Château Lynch-Bages

Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2005

Jol
9.2

Apres vingt ans c est du velours selon Serge dubs — 4 months ago

AEL, Andrew and 5 others liked this

Château Cos d'Estournel

Saint-Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend 2005

Presented to me, double-blind. The wine pours a deep garnet color with an opaque core; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears, and some signs of light sediment. On the nose, the wine is vinous with a mix of ripe and desiccated, mostly dark fruits: cassis, black cherry, plum, mixed brambles, old leather, pipe tobacco, pencil shavings, and fine baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin (that is mostly integrated) and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long.

Initial conclusions: this could be a Cabernet-based Bordeaux blend, Tempranillo (or based blend) or Grenache-based blend from France, Spain or the United States. I feel like this leans more towards its fruit than its structure, even though it is a fairly well balanced wine in both regards. As a result, I am calling this a Cabernet-based Bordeaux blend from the United States, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain from a producer like Dunn, 2006. Shiiiiiit. To be honest, I’m not terribly surprised since this is Cos and from a warm vintage no less. Drinking well now and should through 2050+.
— 7 months ago

Pooneet, Jason and 23 others liked this

Château Calon-Ségur

Saint-Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend 2005

Wonderful nose. Slightly muted / past prime but still very enjoyable — 9 months ago

David liked this

Château Pichon-Longueville Baron

Baron de Pichon-Longueville Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2005

Pretty much the same as the Pavillon Rouge , ruby garnet core and garnet ruby rim. This is quite serious and classic , with blackcurrant , grafite , blackberry , mineral hints, oyster shell and cedar . The tannin is still quite grippy and a little drying , quite fresh acidity , dry spice and grafite tinged finish of good length . Mineral , grafite , oyster shell finish . Needs a little more time to integrate the tannins , but it’s promising and classic in style . Better in 5 years and will last well a further 10-15 . — 10 months ago

Dave, Tom and 12 others liked this
Somm David T

Somm David T Influencer Badge

Still have a couple bottles of this amazing producer that RP frowned on in early reviews. Always struggled to imagine this producer missing in 05. Cheers! 🍷

Château Duhart Milon

Pauillac Cabernet Sauvignon - Merlot Blend 2005

Birth year tastings, evening 3. Wooow….what a beautiful nose…extravagant and confident. Just beautiful. Blackcurrant, juicy, dried herbs, ecoline, and tobacco. Tannins are still pleasantly present. Delicious. — a year ago

Dick and Peter liked this