2005 Wine from France

Wine Spectator, 96 points: Textbook, 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...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 94 points: Tasted 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...

Wine Enthusiast, 94 points: This 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...

Wine Spectator, 93 points: Dark 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. 25000 cases made. –JS

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 93 points: The best bottle I've ever had, the 2005 Hermitage la Chapelle showed much more density and concentration than I recall. Peppery herbs, currants, dried blood and licorice flow beautifully to a medium to full-bodied wine...

Wine Enthusiast, 94 points: (92-94 points) Very opulent, generous and rich. It shows all the glories of the vintage, with huge but sufficiently restrained fruit, and exuberant tannins. ROGER VOSS

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 94 points: The first bottle of 2005 Bellevue that I tasted had a maderized, oxidized nose that was off-putting. This note is from a second bottle. This second bottle showed absolutely no trace of oxidation, but did offer plenty of...

jamessuckling.com, 95 points: This is a beautiful Giscours with tension and finesse. It's full-bodied and shows plenty of berry and spice character, not to mention a long, silky-textured finish. It seduces you with each sip. Why wait?

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 94 points: From nearly ninety year-old vines and in bottle three weeks when I tasted, a 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin Les Cazetiers offers an alluring bouquet of flowers, backed by blackberries and tiny Maine blueberries. This manages in...

Wine Enthusiast, 94 points: This 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...

Wine Enthusiast, 94 points: (92-94 points) Very opulent, generous and rich. It shows all the glories of the vintage, with huge but sufficiently restrained fruit, and exuberant tannins. ROGER VOSS

Wine Enthusiast, 94 points: (92-94 points) Very opulent, generous and rich. It shows all the glories of the vintage, with huge but sufficiently restrained fruit, and exuberant tannins. ROGER VOSS

Wine Enthusiast, 96 points: Pale in color, but rich in texture and fruit, this wonderfully mature rosé is structured from 70% Pinot Noir in the blend. There is a nutty character to the wine that springs from the wine's richness and the mellifluous...

Burghound, 93 points: A subtly toasty yet elegant nose featuring a pretty mélange of earthy red cherry and blackberry fruit aromas lead to sweet, serious and concentrated full-bodied flavors that are underpinned by ripe tannins and a...

Neal Martin's Wine Journal, 91 points: 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...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 90 points: A sleeper of the vintage as well as the finest wine I have yet tasted from this estate, Lalande-Borie is made by Ducru Beaucaillou’s proprietor, Bruno Borie. He has turned out a graceful, charming, seductive St.-Julien...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 90 points: The 2005 La Bienfaisance is a rich, concentrated wine with loads of blackcurrant and black cherry fruit along with some earthiness and subtle background oak. It is medium to full-bodied, ripe, and extremely well-made in a...

jebdunnuck.com, 95 points: The 2005 Comtes de Champagne is a deep, rich, full-bodied beauty that packs serious amounts of fruit and texture, while never seeming heavy or rustic. Loaded with notions of orchards fruits, toast, caramelized citrus and...