This is showing really well right now with an exuberance and richness that verges on extravagance. It's full-bodied, firmly textured with ripe and rich fruit too. So much berry, spice, chocolate and incense character. Love to drink it now but a long life ahead of it.

#2 on 2008 Top 100; Very beautiful aromas of crushed berry flowers currant and Indian spices follow through to a full body with ultrafine tannins and a long long finish. Extremely polished and beautiful with a seamless texture. Best after 2014. 10000 cases made. -JS

A great bottle, the 2005 Château Rauzan-Segla was open and incredibly expressive, with a complex, full-bodied, concentrated style that benefited from just a touch of air. Ripe currants, smoked tobacco, saddle leather, and spicy underbrush-like notes all just about jump out of the glass, and it has velvety tannins, a broad, layered mid-palate, and outstanding length. Drink this sexy, seamless, incredibly impressive Margaux over the coming 15-20 years.

One distinguishing factor of this vintage is that it managed to create a wine such as this: a finely tailored, seamless Margaux that has the textural caress of silk while its tannins explode in a long, slow roundhouse punch so that you don't notice them until they are all that you see. And yet it doesn't feel crass or aggressive. The spiciness of the wine brings anise to mind; the flavor depth carries dark fruit into mineral territory. Completely of a piece, Rauzan is significantly more expressive than it was en primeur. This has an unaffected stamina that will keep it going for 25 years or more.

A wine with a beautiful mouthfeel and shape. This is rich, gleaming in the ripe black fruits, the touch of spice and mint, as well as the sweet blackberry flavors. The acidity is balanced, showing off the fruit. There is weight and density as well.

Tasted single blind at Southwold. After a couple of vexing showing out of barrel, this Rauzan-Segla is finally proving its mettle and I happily upgrade my score. Tasted blind, it shines amongst its peers with a well defined nose: blackberry, crushed stones and a touch of oyster shell. Great clarity. This is very well balanced on the palate, nice acidity, fresh, tannic backbone and really great focus. Sophisticated from start to finish. It has beautifully interwoven oak. This will be a great Rauzan-Segla but as always it needs patient cellaring. Drink 2015-2030+

Deep garnet in color, the 2005 Rauzan-Ségla sings of plum preserves, redcurrant jelly, raspberry pie, kirsch and blackcurrant cordial with nuances of dried lavender, rose hip tea, hoisin and incense. The medium to full-bodied palate is densely packed with rich, expansive black fruits with loads of incense and exotic spice sparks, finishing long and layered. Still quite youthful, I anticipate a long life ahead for this perfumed beauty! The blend this year is 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot, harvested between September 28 and October 28 at an average yield of 39 hectoliters per hectare. It was aged for 18 months in French oak, 70% new. The alcohol is 13.5%. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

Spiced sandalwood, red peppers and dark chocolate, old school in character compared to today's Rauzan Ségla, but this is lovely, with waves of crushed roses and plenty of Margaux finesse running through it, well balanced with subtle tannins exerting pressure, holding on for a mouthwatering finish. 39hl/h yield, harvest Septeber 21 to October 7. 70% new oak. John Kolasa director.

The 2005 Rauzan-Ségla has a perfumed and intense bouquet, although it is not as complex as the Château Margaux tasted a couple of hours earlier. Black cherries, iodine, crushed violet, hints of cumin and fennel emerge with time as the 2005 gains complexity in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, quite ferrous in style, with a touch of menthol (like the ’05 Pavillon Rouge). I have encountered better bottles in the past, and I speculate whether this is stumbling along at 20 years of age. Nicolas Audebert remarked that, in his opinion, the '05 was picked too late. Tasted at the château. -- Neal Martin