d’Armailhac
Boyd-Cantenac (as I already mentioned above)
Sociando-Mallet (not nearly as good as the 2003, IMO, and it seems to me that it will never be as good as one would expect from S-M in in a great vintage).
No hurry to pop the cork on any of these, but they are reasonable ones to get a handle on how the 2005 GCC and equivalents are coming along.
I think I’ll open a half bottle of the d’Armailhac, thanks.
That’s too bad about the Sociando, which I bought a good quantity of thinking that it would excel in a vintage like 2005. I’ll probably hold off on those and hope more charm develops.
The Boyd was showing young a few years back when I opened one, but a really promising, interesting wine. The Lagrange, not surprisingly, is very solid. I went for Clerc Milon than d’Armailhac in '05. But I am holding those.
Pat, the Clos Rene is fabulous and drinking perfectly.
Pat, that’s a great collection of 05s!
I’ve dipped into mine over the last few months. In your list, I’ve tried Batailley, Brane Cantenac, Siran and du Tertre I think time is still needed, but they were at least enjoyable and the tannins are receding, with quite intense fruit emerging. The most open was the Siran, but all needed considerable aeration. I would try La Gurgue and Tour Saint Bonnet, as for me the Crus Bourgeois or similar are tasting a lot better for now than the CCs, but I felt that the Lanessan, last tried just over a year ago, needed more cellaring.
Looking forward to reading your notes!
I had the 2005 Brane Cantenac last year. Really impressive wine, but I agree that it needs more time to hit its peak.
2005 d’Issan was great at a tasting last year.
This is from the Lutton stable along with La Louviere and Couhins Lurton, all solid value, both white and red.
Langoa Barton wasn’t stellar thru late 90s and 00s, so not surprised. The 2009 was solid and forward they are making very good wines at fair prices.
2005 is the new 1986. I think even the 86s may have been more mature by 2006.
Thanks for the input.
“Shockingly young” seems to be a good general summation of the 05s. I’m okay with their prolonged adolescence as long as these eventually flower into mature claret, but the longer it’s goes, the easier it is to imagine these remaining dense, monolithic wines without the charm and nuance of aged wines of old.
I do wonder if there’s been a meaningful improvement regarding average storage conditions over the past couple (few?) decades. And, if there has been, can’t we say that contributes to some longer aging curves?
2005 is one of the few vintages when the Langoa was better than the Leoville.
I felt the same way about the 16 Langoa at the UGC where the 16 Leoville didn’t show much. And the Langoa was 50% cheaper.
IMO this is a general issue with the Bordeaux of the oughts, and it’s most acute with 2005. Whatever elements permitted 80s Bordeaux to flower into more transparent and subtle wines with aging seem somewhat disrupted by the level of selection and extraction emphasized in the oughts. I’ve now had a lot of 15-20+ year old wines from the oughts that remain dense, fruity, and tasty but don’t seem “mature” in the way that I would expect them to be. It’s not that they’re bad wines but they don’t have a certain kind of development that I’d come to expect. Perhaps it will show up with more time. These wines are certainly not bad wines, just different. And I’ve now had a lot of mid-level wines from the 2000 vintage that were starting to have that kind of development so it’s possible.
Patrick knows, but others do not: I keep many wines at 62-65F until I want to slow their aging. Being 80, I want faster aging than most on this board. I have not moved my 2005s to the cold storage and don’t intend to move them in the near term.
Anyone had 2005 L-Poyferre recently?
I am not big on modern BDX, but I thought LP outperformed Langoa from a quality standpoint on release. Haven’t had 2005 Langoa since, if I see one I will give it a go again. I thought Leoville Barton pancaked both though.
I’ve always admired so many aspects of this — the foresight, the knowledge, the logistics, the dedication. I still don’t have a ‘warmer’ sub-cellar but I do keep my oldest wines in a separate wine fridge I keep at 50 (I’d turn it to 45 if it would go any lower).
As usual, I agree 100%.