Chateau Margaux (3 Liter Bottle) 2005

Professional Ratings

• 100 Wine Spectator
  Black in color, delivering extraordinary aromas of blackberry, raisin, spices and fresh mushroom. Full-bodied, with an amazing core of ripe fruit, yet ultrabalanced and finely textured. Touches every taste bud. This incredible young red spent two years in new wood, but you can't tell. It's all glorious fruit. A legendary wine. Best after 2017.
• 98 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  Another celestial effort from Paul Pontallier and Corinne Mentzelopoulus, the 2005 Margaux, a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot, boasts a dense opaque blue/purple color as well as an extraordinary bouquet of spring flowers, blueberries, black raspberries, creme de cassis, licorice, and, despite its having spent two years in 100% new wood, only a subtle touch of toasty oak. Although full-bodied, the wine seems light on its feet because of the silky tannins as well as the great gravel terroir from which it comes. Beautiful purity, length, and nobility define this modern day classic. Is it better than the 2000, 1996, 1990, or some of the vintages from the decade of the eighties? Who knows, but it is unquestionably one of the all-time great wines made at Chateau Margaux. This estate has produced only exceptional wines over the last three decades. The seamlessness of the 2005 suggests it will perform well early, but it should last for a half century or more.
• 98 Wine Enthusiast
  For a Chateau Margaux, this is an especially rich wine. The dense fruit, superripe but not overpowering, and the blackberry jam flavors show the richness of the year. There is wood alongside the juiciness and sweet tannins. Of course, it will age, but it's so delicious to drink now.
• 94 Wine & Spirits
  An extravagantly ripe vintage of Margaux, this has the first-growth scent of a wine at home in its new oak. The texture is succulent and generous, the aromas bright with floral tones and sweet fruit, a taste of fresh strawberries and blackberries macerated in liqueur. This is a beautiful wine, and it may reveal more of its structural power with time.