Chateau Rauzan Segla 2005

JAMES SUCKLING: "This is showing really well right now with an exuberance and richness that verges on extravagance. It's full body, firmly textured with a ripe and rich fruit too. So much berry, spice, chocolate and incense character. Love to drink it now but a long life ahead of it."

WINE SPECTATOR: "Very beautiful aromas of crushed berry, flowers, currant and Indian spices follow through to a full body, with ultrafine tannins and a long, long finish. Extremely polished and beautiful, with a seamless texture. Best after 2014. 10,000 cases made."

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "A wine with a beautiful mouthfeel and shape. This is rich, gleaming in the ripe black fruits, the touch of spice and mint, as well as the sweet blackberry flavors. The acidity is balanced, showing off the fruit. There is weight and density as well."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "Deep garnet in color, the 2005 Rauzan-Ségla sings of plum preserves, redcurrant jelly, raspberry pie, kirsch and blackcurrant cordial with nuances of dried lavender, rose hip tea, hoisin and incense. The medium to full-bodied palate is densely packed with rich, expansive black fruits with loads of incense and exotic spice sparks, finishing long and layered. Still quite youthful, I anticipate a long life ahead for this perfumed beauty! The blend this year is 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot, harvested between September 28 and October 28 at an average yield of 39 hectoliters per hectare. It was aged for 18 months in French oak, 70% new. The alcohol is 13.5%."

JEB DUNNUCK: "The finest wine made at this estate since 2000, the 2005 Rauzan-Ségla checks in as a brilliant blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. It has a touch of lightening at the rim, but it’s still youthfully ruby-colored and offers a fabulous bouquet of cassis, toasted spices, dried tobacco, and graphite. It has lots of sweet tannins, a full-bodied, opulent mouthfeel, terrific density, and a great finish. It has some maturity and is drinking great today, yet I’d say it has upwards of another two decades of longevity. It’s a beautiful wine and one of the gems in the lineup."

WEINWISSER: "Sattes Purpur-Rubin. Nobles Waldbeerenbouquet, mit Edelhölzern und Teenoten unterlegt, ein Hauch dunkler Rosen darin. Samtener, sehr elegant ausgerichteter Gaumen, wunderschön balanciert, fast tänzerisch wirkend, feine Tannine, sehr lang."

DECANTER: "2005 is a vintage that has taken its time to soften, but here the austerity of its youth has now given way to floral Margaux notes of roses and dried flowers, together with gorgeous exotic spices, brambled black fruits and smoky edge that Rauzan Segla does so well. It's beginning to motor along, and is a great wine for pairing with food right now. Harvest ran from 21 September to 7 October, giving a 39hl/ha yield. 2% Cabernet Franc completes the blend. 70% new oak. Drinking Window 2019 - 2040."

FALSTAFF: "Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, fast opaker Kern, violette Randaufhellung, in der Nase frisches Cassis, zart nach Lemongrass, appetitliches Bukett, fast ätherisch, zart nach Menthol. Am Gaumen engmaschig, zart balsamisch, finessenreich strukturiert, feste Tannine, feiner Nougattouch, zeigt eine gute Komplexität, guter Fruchtnachhall, hat gute Entwicklungsmöglichkeiten."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Showing some lightness in color, with truffle, tobacco, earth, cigar box, licorice and black fruits in the nose. Sleepy, but not closed, this structured, age worthy wine needs serious air or another 5-10 years, before it truly starts to show all its considerable, soft, supple charms and complexities."