Ok ... I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I haven't been overly impressed with the 2005 Bordeaux I've tasted to date. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking this guy doesn't know squat. And maybe you're right. But after all the hype and hoopla surrounding this vintage, I've been drinking these Cru Bourgeois wines and wondering why they aren't better. At least one wine I tasted was clearly flawed; most of the others were just boring. The only wine I truly enjoyed was a 2005 Lalande de Pomerol *** Granted, I haven't started in on the classified growths yet, but in a region that produces over 700 million bottles of wine, and unquestionably the finest wines in the world, why should I have to pay more than about $25 for a really good bottle of wine from an excellent vintage?
Then I got this email the other day from America's Wine Shop, advertising the 2005 Latour a Pomerol for $35. This is by no means cheap, by today's standards, but I've loved this vineyard since I tasted a bottle of the 1998 a few years ago, and couldn't resist the offer. Besides, for my own sanity, I needed to try a 2005 Bordeaux that I could enjoy.
Latour a Pomerol is roughly 20 acres of gravel interspersed by loam and clay, planted 90% merlot and 10% cabernet franc, with an average age of 35 years. Farmed and produced by Jean Pierre Moueix, the wine is aged in one third new oak barrels, lending the wine very smoky and mildly spicy notes. Dark and thick, and very tannic, probably like most 2005 Bordeaux, this wine needs plenty of time to develop, but there is very good fruit and complexity underneath.
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