Petrus 2005

Tasted single blind at Southwold. Normal service is resumed after a questionable bottle after bottling. Tasted blind, this has a deep, broody nose, hoi sin, dark plum, manuka honey and lavender. It certainly has an ethereal sense of delineation. Flamboyant and ravishing, redolent of Tertre–Roteboeuf. The palate is full-bodied, tannic, immense depth with thick saturated tannins: a meaty edge towards the grippy finish. This is a broody but talented baby…be its guardian! Drink 2015-2030+ Tasted January 2009.

Inky/ruby/purple-colored with a classic, but tightly wound bouquet of vanillin, cedar, roasted herbs, mulberry jam, black cherries, licorice, and graphite, the full-bodied, powerful, tannic 2005 Petrus is a super-concentrated, backward wine meant for five decades of aging. As excruciatingly tannic as some of the northern Medocs, it requires at least 15 years of bottle age. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2050+.