Wines (12 View)

Boyd-Cantenac consistently fashions powerful clarets that often fly under the radar of consumers. That?????s a shame as Bordeaux lovers should be purchasing it as it is one of the least expensive cru classes in the marketplace. An inky/purple color is followed by aromas of pen ink, blackberries, cassis, licorice, spring flowers, and truffles. Powerful and dense, with fabulous intensity, purity, structure, and tannin, like many of these muscular 2005s, this classic will require patience. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2030+. - WS(92)

This Bordeaux blanc is definitely past its prime but wine drinkers with an interest and enthusiasm for whites with age may find it enjoyable. The wine has turned golden in color and has a mild nose of burnt caramel. The palate coats and is textural with nuttiness and more caramel. It finishes like a dry sherry. It might be good with aged Gouda. With this forewarning we will only sell the bottle on a no return basis.

Clos Puy Arnaud is nearly always a seriously made as well as potentially long-lived offering, as evidenced by the 2005. This blend of 60% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, and Carmenere boasts a saturated blue/purple color in addition to a sweet nose of black raspberries, cranberries, crushed rocks, and background wood. Displaying terrific old vine intensity, it hits the palate with a rush of fruit, glycerin, and tannin. With good structure, purity, and potential, it will require 2-3 years to settle down, and should last for 15 or more years. - WA(90-92)

A final blend of 70% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Franc, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, and a rare 6% Malbec has resulted in a 2005 Quinault l?????Enclos that rivals what this estate achieved in 2001, 2000, and 1998. This St.-Emilion?????s upbringing is similar to that of a top red Burgundy, including a 7-day cold soak, fermentation in small tanks, malolactic in barrel, and aging sur-lie with the well-known oxoline system of rotating barrels on wheeled racks, which allows for a type of batonnage without having to open the bung and expose the wine to oxygen. Cropped at 30 hectoliters per hectare, it exhibits a dark ruby/purple hue along with beautiful aromas of charcoal, spring flowers, blueberries, raspberries, cassis, and a subtle note of wood. The overall style is one of finesse, elegance, and minerality. Medium to full-bodied and impeccably pure with a beautiful texture as well as 14% natural alcohol, this 2005 will be at its apogee between 2012-2025. - WA(92-94)

#4 on The Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of 2018!

95 pts Wine Spectator
Cedar and sandalwood aromas give way to flavors of tea, tobacco, dried cherry, forest floor and orange peel in this expressive red. Round on the palate, supported by muscular tannins and juicy acidity. Big but graceful, mature yet lively, in the traditional style. Drink now through 2030. 4,753 cases made.

98 pts James Suckling
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?

94 pts Wine Advocate
Here the Tempranillo is complemented by 3% Graciano and 2% Mazuelo, fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged in 199 oak barrels for six years with ten rackings. It's a very balanced and polished classical Rioja with moderate alcohol (13.5%) and good acidity (6.1 grams of tartaric); it also has a silky texture, resolved tannins and a very pleasant mouthfeel. It has complexity but is a little closed, and it feels a little evolved, at times even a little tired. The fruit feels quite ripe, with some liquor notes. The palate is polished, with fully resolved tannins and fine acidity. It was bottled unfiltered in March 2012. 57,036 bottles and 1,312 magnums were produced. 2001, 2004 and 2005 are the only 890s in the decade. The next one will be the 2010.

The 2005 is bottled and made in a rich yet elegant style, with loamy currant, spice and dried berry with a touch of cedary oak and a hint of graphite. It?????s very tight and young now, but well-balanced and fairly typical of the 2005 vintage for Napa Cabernet. - WS