2005 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, 94 points: Rated, no tasting note given. - Jay Miller

jamessuckling.com, 98 points: The aromas to this are stunning with dried strawberry, stone and fresh mushroom. Full body and very tight with incredible depth and structure. It goes on for minutes. One of the greatest ever? The new 1964? Available...

Vinous, 90 points: Saturated medium ruby. Superripe aromas of blackberry, violet and licorice. Deep, powerful and penetrating, with a real warmth to the black fruit and spice flavors and superb breadth for this bottling. Finishes long and...

jamessuckling.com, 97 points: This appears to be the synthesis of the fabulous 2001 and 2003. It shows wonderful aromas of botrytis spice, honey and citrus rind. Lots of fruit with a tropical fruit undertone of mango and papaya on the palate. Intense...

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.

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 94 points: Possibly one of two of the most concentrated St.-Juliens (Léoville Las Cases is the other), this 2005 shows wonderfully sweet tannin, a dense ruby/purple color, and lots of crème de cassis, licorice and spice...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 96 points: Named after a mythical monster the 2005 Shiraz Savitar emerges from rocky low vigor soils and was aged for 16 months in primarily new French oak barrels. Dazzling aromas of acacia flowers blueberries crushed rocks...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 99 points: At the top of the pyramid is the 2005 Syrah Astralis Vineyard. It is sourced from a vineyard planted in 1920 and is one of the Syrah cuvees in which 100% new oak is utilized (along with Brookman, Hickinbotham, and Piggott...

Decanter, 99 points: Deep bright ruby, superconcentrated and extremely vertical, this Mouton is only starting to open up after which it will plateau for another fifty years or so of outstanding drinking. Cassis, cedar, graphite aromas and...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 93 points: Deep garnet with a hint of purple, the 2005 Cluster M45 Shiraz reveals gorgeous fruits of the forest coulis and blueberry pie scents with suggestions of cloves, cedar and bacon. Medium to full-bodied, quite structured and...

Decanter, 94 points: 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...