TN: 2005 Château Prieuré-Lichine (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux)

WINE TALK
#1
  • 2005 Château Prieuré-Lichine - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux (7/25/2009)
    Decanted for only 1 hour. I Immediately smelled pencil shavings, wet asphalt, and a bit of anise. As it opened up, it became very complex adding aromas of espresso, chocolate syrup, and cola. It was really hard to pinpoint one quality that stood out from the rest, and all of the previous flavors mentioned, except the chocolate syrup, were noticeable on the palate as well.
    The tannins made the wine bone-dry from about mid-palate on. They did not lighten up much throughout the evening. Acid levels were on the high-side, but in great balance. This one’s an ager. The only weakness I found early on was the mid-palate was a bit empty at first, but it filled in nicely as it opened.
    A soft wine yet still had nice weight and a nice long finish. Impressive wine. (92 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

#2

Thanks for the note. I own some but haven’t opened any yet. Can you please clarify for me what you mean when you call it a “soft” wine? I usually call a wine soft when the tannin is either non-existent or integrated but you mention tannin is apparent.
thanks
Rich

#3

I remember tasting this en primeur. I do not have a ton of familiarity with this wine over the years, but generally speaking what I had was pretty much of poor quality…until the 2005, which was great.

#4

I haven’t tried any of my '05 stash yet, but the '00 is drinking wonderfully at present.

#5

In this instance, by soft I am referring to the flavors not being bitter or overpowering at any point; just very balanced. Also, the tannins, although very present, were not astrigent by any means. And the nice low alcohol percentage (which is pretty much a given in my definition of soft).
But you are right, a lack of heat, tannins, and acid can also make a wine “soft”. Maybe soft-ish would have been a better description [cheers.gif]