Tom Garland

9.4

Decant and pour.  On the nose:  dark fruit, pencil shavings, green bell pepper, leather, mushrooms.   Taste:  a brooding, still austere, structured wine with dark fruit, cassis, smoked earth, cigar, minerals, crushed stone.  Some pronounced tannins want you to give it more time for a better score in the future.

At Cote, Last Vegas — 4 days ago

with Brenda and

Andrew Cullimore

9.8

Tasted blind. Medium deep garnet ruby and medium garnet ruby rim . Quite cool and restrained , again lots of grafite and mineral , dark fruits . This is quite deep and dark spicy cassis , blackberry and sea spray , saline . Quite dense and robust on the palate again , lots of fine but ripe tannins. Very long , dense , cassis , cedar grafite saline finish . This is a complete and great example of 2005 , great balance and enormous length , the longest of all on show here. Drinkable now , but surely it’s best days are in the future , wait another 5 -10 years , will last well a further 20 - 25 if not more . The apex of 2005 ? For me this had to be the Latour , and an archetypal example of Latour no less . 1st place and the gold medal . — 16 days ago

Ron Siegel

9.3

A pair of 16’s off of Buccan’s list in PB. Way too young but started to develop slowly with air. I enjoyed both but leaned more to the Beausejour Duffau. — 4 days ago

Tom Garland

9.1

Double decant and pour(lots of fine sediment). A striking still dark purplish garnet color with bricking. On the nose: Alluring perfumed notes of red/blue fruit, smoked meat, tobacco, vanilla, eucalyptus, wet forest floor, cloves. Taste: silky, old school restraint, elegant wine with some red fruit, leather, earth, dried herbs, tobacco, and a medium spiced smokey wood finish. Did not wow, but still a pleasure to drink at 38 years. — 8 days ago

with Brenda

Paul K

9.2

Actually kindof fell apart after 3 hours. Nose and palate were better 30 mins in. Chalking it up to odd bottle. — 5 days ago

Stephen Fitzpatrick

9.0

2020 vintage. Heavy floral aromas of plum and cherry on the nose, deep ruby red in color. Full bodied, a slight chew on the initial intake, but still smooth on the finish. Continued to open up, great pairing with steak, phenomenal quality for the price range, $30-$40. — 14 days ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.1

2017 vintage. Surprising length of finish that went on and on. Some initial richness up front before the usual, St. Estèphe tannic embrace. 4.23.26. — 16 days ago

Pooneet K

9.4

In perfect condition and drinking much more youthful than nearly 40 years!! Paired with grilled chicken thighs which went very well given the tannin structure has mostly receded. Acid still very much keeping things together and in check. Nice balance - still some good fruit, great earth, long finish. Hard to argue! — 8 days ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.4

1982 vintage. Last tasted 6.1.24 (9.4) and nearly 9 years ago (9.0). Courtesy of Monsieur @Bill Bender. Sweet fill. Opened with a Durand. Cork 95% saturated. A little reticent in the early going and decanted a third of the bottle to see if that would pull the juice out of a sullen funk. It did, so the remainder got decanted whilst throwing much less sed than expected. Medium body still. Slightly brickish and plenty fleshy with well-integrated complexity. Very pleasant and lingering finish. A great bottle with more than could reasonably be expected at this juncture. Thank you, Bill! 4.24.26. — 15 days ago

with Bill

Alexandre Pagliano

9.2

Medium dark rubi robe, does not look like a 40 year old wine. Nose of top soil, cedar wood, spices and a hint of flowers. Very good length and with polished tannins, medium bodied, great acidity. The wine is fantastic now but no rush. Great stuff. — 11 days ago

with Jose, veronique and 1 other