Last week I was very privileged to be asked onto the 3 man tasting panel of "The World of Fine Wine" magazine. The subject matter was one of my favourites - 2005 Bordeaux and, as you can imagine, like most people reading this, I didn't have to be asked twice. My fellow panelists were the wine writer Stephen Brook (author of "The Complete Bordeaux" and numerous other wine and travel books) and wine educator and super-taster Michael Schuster.
The Right Bank contestants line up to be tasted.
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There were nearly 100 wines on show so the tasting was divided into two sessions with the right bank on Thursday and the Medoc on Friday. I loosened up, on both days, with an envigorating cycle from Wandsworth to Islington. Plenty of fresh air and the adrenaline highs provided by the traffic at Vauxhall Cross and Trafalgar Square had me primed for action despite the 9.30am starts.
The wines were served in flights of 5, within peer groups. The "warm up" flights were comprised of Lalande de Pomerol, Fronsac, Côtes de Castillon, Premieres Côtes de Bordeaux and Côtes de Francs. All these wines were attractive and ripe but there were two clear stand-outs, both from Castillon. The rich fruit bomb Chateau d'Aiguilhe was hard to resist but my clear favourite was Stephane Derenoncourt's Domaine de l'A. This is a fabulously sexy, creamy-textured wine with wonderful exotic spice that I can safely say is the greatest wine that I have ever tasted from this appellation. If you ever see this at a half-decent price, buy it. It's absolutely gorgeous.
Michael Schuster through a glass of 2005 Angélus - look at those "legs"!.
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Unfortunately, not many Pomerols were present in the tasting. It never ceases to amaze me that many Chateaux will spend money on posh dinners, marketing, PR and advertising but refuse to spare a bottle for a serious tasting such as this. I suppose that they think that in 2005 the reputations of the wines are already established and that they have nothing more to prove. If this is the case, then even more credit is due to Alain Vauthier who provided a bottle of his awesome Ausone 2005 which, of course, stole the show in Saint Emilion. I can't think of a Bordeaux tasting that I've been to in the past 5 years when Ausone has not taken the breath away. This is a quite brilliant wine that fully deserves its 100 point ratings. It didn't have the deepest colour in the flight but it simply oozes class and delivers both power and control. Alongside Ausone were the blockbusters from Angelus, La Mondotte and Valandraud. All undeniably fabulous. These are all page 3 stunners but Ausone's the one with the intellect - and without the implants. Also deserving a mention was my number two wine of the flight - Larcis Ducasse (powerful but serious) and some lovely rounded efforts from Clos Fourtet and Canon. By the way, poor old Belair was in last place yet again!
In the Medoc and Haut Medoc appellations, La Tour Carnet continues to offer very good quality for money. But, the clear winner here was the big, beefy, heavyweight offering from Sociando Mallet. This has to be the best wine made here since 1990 and it's certainly riper than their slightly leafy 2000. It's big, brooding and very serious but don't expect it to be ready to drink for a few years yet.
Big names from Pauillac.
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The Saint Julien flight was very good indeed with all the major Chateaux present except for Ducru Beaucaillou (come on Bruno you're making great wines - stop hiding them!). I was hugely impressed by Saint Pierre which I am absolutely convinced is the greatest wine ever made at this property. A Champion's League performance to match the achievements of the owner's Girondins de Bordeaux football team. However, for me, this commune was ultimately a two horse race with a photo finish. Léoville Barton, with its dense core of cassis fruit and cigar box nose, matching neighbour Lascases stride for stride. Léoville Lascases is a brooding masterpiece that may not be ready to drink for another 20 years. Not a wine for those looking for easy charms, but one deserving of great respect
In Saint Estephe Cos d'Estournel delivered a First Growth performance that, I think, out-performed even the great Léovilles. What a stunning wine. Some have been critical of Robert Parker rating this above Lafite, Latour and Mouton in 2005 but on this showing it's hard to think of a greater young wine. The colour is as black as ink and the palate is huge, massive and unctuous. Thick, but not excessively backward and with an exuberant opulence that seems to make it more approachable than it really is. The finish just goes on and on. In a tasting that had already featured some brilliant wines, this was a show-stopper. Also, worth a mention in St Estephe, was a stunning performance from the cru bourgeois Phélan Ségur. This is a wine that shocked us at Southwold back in January and it did it again here. The greatest Phelan ever. No doubt about it. A real bargain at £300 per case. Well done to Neal Martin for first spotting the quality of this wine (when he scored it 95 points).
A typical 2005 - still dark and dense.
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Finally to Pauillac. Some really wonderful wines here. Grand Puy Lacoste is classic and classy with a lead pencil nose and structured cassis palate. Pontet Canet much more exotic, sexy and full of licorice and vanilla. Almost a touch of raisins on the finish. One of the most decadent Pauillacs ever made. Lynch Bages seems to combine many of the attributes of the two previous wines - the refinement of GPL with the ripeness of PC. Wonderful. The two Pichons are complete opposites. The Lalande is already showing some fade and is approachable, supple and charming with a milk chocolate smoothness. The Baron is awesome. The colour is as black as a moonless sky and the nose wafts from the glass with cigar box, eucalyptus and creme de cassis notes. This is very much a Latour taste-alike and, like Cos, definitely touching the quality level of the First Growths. This is an awesome wine that needs to be put away for the long term.
Conclusions of this tasting were that 2005 is certainly delivering the goods after the early promise that we saw en primeur. It's a great vintage in all appellations and at all price levels. At the top end I don't think that I've ever tasted anything better. Furthermore, many of the Second Growths deliver near First Growth quality at a fraction of the prices. Overall, it's a notch above 2000, more serious than the sexy, but loose-knit 2003, less lean than 1996, more dense than 1989 and 1990 and more classic than 1982. After these comparisons you have to go back to 1961. But I think 2005 is even better.
2009 is already grabbing the headlines but the message from 2005 is clear: - "The vintage of the century title is mine, and you won't take it without a fight".
The World of Fine Wine www.finewinemag.com - is the world's most serious wine magazine, under the editorship of the very thoughtful and scholarly Neil Beckett. Well worth a subscription in my opinion.
