Gorgeously pure blueberry and blackberry fruit along with some notes of cassis, charcoal and licorice jump from the glass of this inky purple wine. An absolutely fabulous success for Malartic Lagravière, this full-bodied wine has sweet tannin, and is complex and long. Drink it over the next 25 years. Bravo!

Perhaps the strongest wine I have ever tasted from Malartic Lagravière, the 2005 has a dense ruby/purple color and a wonderfully sweet nose of crème de cassis, graphite, and soil undertones. Medium-bodied., smoky, with classic scorched earth, Graves-like aromatics and flavors, this wine displays impeccable winemaking, with pure fruit, medium body, and gorgeously long, rich flavors and moderate levels of tannin. The wine should be relatively drinkable in 3-5 years and last for at least two decades or more. This is possibly the finest Malartic Lagravière ever made. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2025
-Wine Advocate #176 Apr 2008

(91-93 pts)
The finest wine yet made under the auspices of Belgian proprietor Alexandre Bonnie, Malartic Lagraviere’s classically elegant 2005 reveals a deep ruby/purple color, wonderful density and richness, a sweet perfume of incense, spring flowers, blue and blackberries, scorched earth, and spice. While super rich in fruit as well as concentrated with medium body and superb precision, it remains a model of delicacy. Give this tasty Pessac-Leognan 4-5 years of bottle age, and drink it over the following 25+ years.
-Wine Advocate #170 Apr 2007

(90-93 pts)
This estate has been resurrected over the last decade under the inspired leadership of Belgian proprietor, Alexandre Bonnie. The incredibly elegant 2005 is a classic Graves offering wonderfully sweet aromas of berries, scorched earth, flowers, and spice. Elegant, vibrant, super-endowed, textured, rich, fresh, and lively, it should be approachable in 3-4 years, and last for 25 or more.
-Wine Advocate #164 Apr 2006

The Château Malartic-Lagravière 2005 feels quite austere on the nose and needs encouragement from the glass. Eventually it yields and offers blackberry, mulberry, wilted rose petal and cedar notes that begin to flourish after 2 or 3 minutes in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp tannin on the entry, more red fruit than black with good tension. It just tapers in slightly towards the finish with a touch of bell pepper surfacing unexpectedly on the aftertaste. This still needs a few years to fully meld together.

Dark, youthful red; dense and oaky to smell; full, fresh, fairly concentrated and firmly tannic; plenty of fine, fresh, ripe fruit framed by a firm (mainly oak?), tannin; crisply juicy, moderate complexity, nice scented length; but at the moment the dry texture still impinges somewhat. Good, but perhaps too much ‘structure’ for the available fruit? 2018-28?

Full ruby-red. Redcurrant, black cherry, tobacco, mocha and licorice on the nose, along with some exotic oak spices. Rich but a bit ungiving, with slightly dry-edged flavors of redcurrant, minerals and mellow oak. Will the young 2006 take on this much oak with another year in the barrel? Finishes with dusty, dry-edged tannins.

Tasted blind. Clean nose. Very direct but a bit simple. Thick, ungainly tannins. (JR)