Chateau Malescot Saint Exupery 2005

WINE SPECTATOR: "Exhibits blackberry, mineral, currant and dark chocolate. Full and velvety, with lots of fruit and chewy tannins. Long and caressing, with incredibly sweet fruit and tannins on the finish. Goes on for minutes. A thoroughly gorgeous wine. Best after 2015. 6,615 cases made."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "A beautiful wine, once again, from this property that has been on a superb qualitative roll for several decades. Dense ruby/purple with notes of graphite, background oak, youthful crème de cassis and blackberry fruit as well as a floral underpinning, it is medium to full-bodied, textured, rich and impressive. Still in a somewhat adolescent stage, it should hit full maturity in another 2-3 years and last at least two decades."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Seriously concentrated, round and fleshy, this richly textured, silky, powerful wine is slowly creeping out if its shell. It is going to need at least another 5 years before the oak completely integrates into the wine."

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "91-93 Barrel sample. Big, ripe and juicy—a Dolly Parton wine. With exuberant fruitiness this is attractive now, but there are solid, firm tannins, so the wine will perhaps grow up."

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Mid crimson without great colour concentration. Sweet, creamy nose. Then a pretty chewy cassis palate. Absolutely masses of tannins. This should come right in the end. But it certainly needs time. This may always be a bit chunky and less sophisticated than some but not overworked in any way."