This may be the most prodigious wine Jean-Luc Thunevin and his partner Murielle Andraud have made to date. Inky purple to the rim at age ten, this wine’s explosive aromatics include espresso, chocolate, plum, blackberry and cassis. The oak is well-hidden behind an extravagant, full-bodied, multi-layered palate. Stunningly pure, super-intense and just beginning to move into middle adolescence, the “Bad Boy” of Bordeaux has produced a legend in 2005. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2035.

Robert Parker (Wine Advocate #219, Jun 2015)

Tasted single blind at Southwold. The nose seemed to be at an awkward stage with -funky- black cherry and plum-tinged fruit that lacks cohesion at the moment. The palate is smooth and sensuous, very fleshy but underlying some beautifully extracted tannins that coat the mouth. It seems to crescendo in the mouth, improving with very sip. An intellectual Valandraud. Drink 2012-2025+ Tasted January 2009.

– eRobertParker.com, Jul 2009

Bright ruby-red. Rich, sweet aromas of cherry, black raspberry, licorice and sexy oak. Richer and fleshier than the young 2006, delivering a real wallop of chewy fruit. This appears to rely more on its major tannins than its ripe acids for structure, but Thunevin notes that the pH of 3.61 is even lower than that of the 2006. And the IPT here is 86, which Thunevin describes as "normal for us."