Chateau Branaire-Ducru, Saint-Julien 4me Cru, 2005
There's one intrinsic truth about Bordeaux that can't be stressed often enough: these babies need time and air; if a property was good enough to make it to the 1855 listing, you need to air any bottle you open before making up your mind about it, at any age, for any vintage. Even with the off-vintages. And 2005 was far from being an off-vintages. In fact, it's one of the three great vintages of the previous decade, along with 2009 and either 2010 or 2000¹, depending on how where you prefer your decades to begin².
At first, I thought this was too green and rustic. But after a couple of hours, the fruit sheds any green tints and shows the muscular black fruit of typical of the great vintages when they reach this stage of robust maturity, with a judicious helping of iron and minerals, and the palate shows typical Saint-Julien balance until almost the very end. The fruit and tannins and the acidity mesh perfectly only to have that balance recede on the finish just enough to show a touch of greenness that I assume will be gone in 5-10 years. If you decide to wait that long, it won't be a dumbass choice.
1. And 2001 and 2008 were also very good to excellent. We're at a point in time where half the Bordeaux vintages are keepers.
2. . cf The Seinfeld Rule.
There's one intrinsic truth about Bordeaux that can't be stressed often enough: these babies need time and air; if a property was good enough to make it to the 1855 listing, you need to air any bottle you open before making up your mind about it, at any age, for any vintage. Even with the off-vintages. And 2005 was far from being an off-vintages. In fact, it's one of the three great vintages of the previous decade, along with 2009 and either 2010 or 2000¹, depending on how where you prefer your decades to begin². At first, I thought this was too green and rustic. But after a couple of hours, the fruit sheds any green tints and shows the muscular black fruit of typical of the great vintages when they reach this stage of robust maturity, with a judicious helping of iron and minerals, and the palate shows typical Saint-Julien balance until almost the very end. The fruit and tannins and the acidity mesh perfectly only to have that balance recede on the finish just enough to show a touch of greenness that I assume will be gone in 5-10 years. If you decide to wait that long, it won't be a dumbass choice.
1. And 2001 and 2008 were also very good to excellent. We're at a point in time where half the Bordeaux vintages are keepers.
2. . cf The Seinfeld Rule.
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