Wine:How are the 2005 Bordeaux shaping up?
Gatwick Airport is not a pretty sight at 5.30am, and neither am I. But needs must, so I plod through its endless queues to board a 7am flight to Bordeaux. When we arrive we are taken to a beautiful 200-year-old quayside warehouse whose temperature-controlled interior houses
2.5 million bottles of wine. But not any old wine: stacked up towards the roof are cases of Latour, Canon, Palmer and more.
It's deep-breath time. A gaggle of wine journalists have been invited by Millésima, a leading French merchant, to sample 95 wines from the lauded 2005 vintage.
It is one of the better tastings, as it allows the wines - many classed growths, though no firsts - to be evaluated in a cooler light, after the
white heat of the previous year's en-primeur tastings. They have had a chance to settle, as have the critics, so judgments tend to be more measured.
For three hours we wander through the cellars, stopping at tables representing the appellations of Margaux, St Julien, Pauillac and so on. As impressive as the bulk of the wines are, they are still very young, and all are swathed in big, soft, chewy tannins that leave a furry coating in your mouth - tasting young wine can be a numbing experience.
But nobody is complaining. On every table is at least one wine to die for - one that makes spitting it out seem the height of lunacy. Here are my impressions.
PESSAC-LÉOGNANThe heavyweights Château La Mission Haut-Brion and Château Pape Clément are fittingly stunning. The bargain- basement Picque Caillou (€11.50 a bottle en primeur on Millésima's sister site, www.wineandco.com) is also impressive.
POMEROLNo bargains here, but La Conseillante and La Croix du Casse are particularly intense and attractive. From the nearby Côtes de Castillion, Château Sainte Colombe is a bargain (€108 a case en primeur from www.millesima.com).
ST ÉMILIONOf the heavyweights, La Gaffelière, Troplong Mondot and Figeac are awesome. Pavie-Macquin and the controversial Pavie are either wonderfully intense, as Robert Parker believes, or ridiculously overextracted, as Jancis Robinson says. Pavie-Macquin is certainly overpowered, but it also shows remarkable concentration and class.
MÉDOC AND HAUT MÉDOCSociando-Mallet and Poujeaux (€288 a case en primeur) stand out, with their great depth of dark fruit and firm structure.
MARGAUXRauzan-Ségla and, to a lesser extent, Lascombes are impressive, but the wine of the table - and the tasting - is Château Palmer: hugely seductive blackcurrant fruit, wonderful balance and extraordinary length. It costs an arm and a leg, but some might consider that to be a small price for such pleasure.
ST JULIENThe Irish connection does well here, with the outstanding Léoville Barton - closely followed by the dark, brooding majesty of Gruaud-Larose, the striking intensity of Talbot and the understated class of Beychevelle.
ST ESTÈPHECalon-Ségur's earthy dark beauty is most impressive, although Phélan Ségur, Le Boscq and the good-value Meyney (€264 en primeur) were also notable.
PAUILLACThe supremely elegant Pontet-Canet and the powerful, finessed Lynchs-Bages and Lynch-Moussas leave everything else on this table in their wake.
It is a memorable tasting, although opinion is divided about whether 2005 was as good as 2000. Some big names, such as Montrose, have not fared well, but it is early days in the life of these wines. Time will tell.