2005 Red Wine

Wine Spectator, 91 points: Aromas of mineral blackberry and licorice lead to a full body with lots of racy tannins and a long flavorful finish. There's plenty of character with a polished refined style yet tannic. Best after 2011. 9830 cases made...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 100 points: 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...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 96 points: Deep garnet colored, the 2005 Hillside Shiraz reveals a wonderfully expressive, spicy nose with some notes of game, potpourri, dried cranberries and kirsch. It is a glorious, full-bodied wine packed with complex flavor...

Vinous, 97 points: (fermented in large oak tanks and aged for six years in new French and American oak barriques) Saturated ruby. Explosively perfumed aromas of fresh ripe red fruits, floral oils, pipe tobacco and incense take on sexy...

jamessuckling.com, 95 points: Concentrated and elegant with a great harmony of dry tannins and ripeness (but no hint of overripeness), this has a long finish with a lot of drive and enormous freshness. You could drink this now with red meat, but it’s...

Decanter, 100 points: This stunning wine is still extremely young, with an amazingly expressive nose with tea leaf hints. The aromatics keep building and building in the glass, and the elegance and persistency shine through. This was a drought...

Wine & Spirits, 100 points: How 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...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 100 points: With an unbelievable nose of licorice, tapenade, black cherry and blackcurrant liqueur, as well as full body, super-sweet tannin, and astonishing richness and length, this prodigious effort in 2005 announced the...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 95 points: One of the most age-worthy cuvees in the appellation, Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe’s 2005 Châteauneuf du Pape was gorgeous on this occasion, showing classic iodine, seaweed and peppery herbs intermixed with layers of sweet...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 98 points: 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...

Wine Spectator, 94 points: Plush, with velvety tannins that carry raspberry ganache, red licorice, molten chocolate and mulled spice notes. Nice hints of sandalwood, black tea and graphite fill out the finish, which just sails on. The velvety...

Wine Enthusiast, 90 points: A full, firm, ripe wine that shows considerable style and richness. There are fine, dusty tannins, masking the full-bodied black fruits, licorice flavors, and a firm, smooth aftertaste.

jebdunnuck.com, 92 points: The 2005 Coteaux d'Aix en Provence Alpilles is a beauty that shows the tighter, firmer, more focused style of the vintage. Offering a Burgundian bouquet of ripe black cherries, cedary herbs, graphite, and toasted spice...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 97 points: 97+ 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...