This is opulent, but with restraint. The fruit is rich, black and delicious. Touches of spice and wood are present, lending complexity to the ripe fruits and balanced tannins. Impressive. ROGER VOSS

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...

Purple to the rim, the 2005 Faugères is a powerhouse at 14.5% alcohol, with notes of graphite, blueberry and blackberry liqueur, licorice and truffle. Some incense also makes an appearance in this full-bodied...

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...

(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

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.

This is opulent, but with restraint. The fruit is rich, black and delicious. Touches of spice and wood are present, lending complexity to the ripe fruits and balanced tannins. Impressive. ROGER VOSS

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...

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?

The nose on this seems more concentrated than the 2000, and the purity of fruit is stunning, with blueberries, raspberries, fresh flowers, and hints of licorice. This is perfect and complete. Full bodied, with notes of...

Wow. This really shows wonderful depth and complexity on the nose with blueberries, fresh flowers and hints of stones. It’s full-bodied, with ultra-refined tannins and a long, long finish. Gets better and better with age:...

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...

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

Much better than the previous bottle tasted, this was a lot of fun to have in my glass. The fruit was ripe, the tannins were polished the aromatics too time to get going, but once they did, the cedar, tobacco, thyme...

Ruby red, this remains closed on the nose, and the tannic structure is still tight at 17 years old, proof that 2005 retains its ability to frustrate, but the hints of mature notes are finally becoming clear. So much...

The 2005 Haut Brion is out of this world and certainly one of the finest wines I’ve ever tasted. Deeper, richer, and more concentrated than the 2000, it offers as pure an expression of this terroir as I could image with...

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...