Lafite Rothschild Pauillac 2005

100 points Jane Anson (Decanter): "This stunning wine is still extremely young, with an amazingly expressive nose with tea leaf hints. The aromatics keep building and building in the glass, and the elegance and persistency shine through. This was a drought year, unusual because it was almost perfect from beginning to end with not a drop of rain from May to October. Temperatures were not hot like 2003, of course, so the ripening was slow and complete, with relatively small yields and relatively high alcohol. This is full of energy and the flavours just keep on going, while those tannis have really started to embrace the fruit and showcase their elegance. It's concentrated and luscious yet focussed and beautifully balanced - the perfect example of how they don't need excess to deliver something truly extraordinary in Bordeaux. Drinking Window: 2020-2045. (May 2018)"

99 points Bettane & Desseauve's Guides to the Wines of France: "Very powerful and masculine with an ultra-tight texture, dense tannins, and great volume on the palate. Monumental Lafite, requiring a long, patient wait. Drink 2011 up to 2050. (2011)"

'Top 100 Cellar Selections of 2008' and 99 points Wine Enthusiast: "Initially dense, almost black enough to be attacked with a knife. But then it becomes apparent that this is a beautifully integrated, balanced wine, bringing together power, with the hallmark Lafite style and poise. In the end, you have a wine that promises an impressive aging potential along with delicious black currant fruits, acidity and a layer of striking tannins."

98 points Wine Spectator: "Delivers blackberry, dried porcini, tobacco and licorice aromas. Full-bodied, with layers of velvety tannins and loads of dark chocolate, cigar box, currant, berry and mineral. The finish is long, with a coffee, almost meaty, aftertaste. Very beautiful and balanced. Best after 2013."

98 points and 'Top 100 Wines of 2008' Wine & Spirits: "[$1,800 list] Lafite is the most elegant of the firsts in 2005; it also may be the most romantic. The wine's heady scent of new oak rises in harmony with the succulent red fruit. Then the tannins come on with a gentle roar, layering the perception of flavors in subtle shadings. There's not a trace of the hyperintensity that so many young 2005s wear as if required for their longevity. The stones of Lafite grow something more numinous than that, a wine with the power to strike an emotional chord through taste. This will be one of the longest lived wines of 2005. (Oct 2008)"

97 points Stephen Tanzer (International Wine Cellar): "Bright medium ruby. Knockout nose combines black- and redcurrant, minerals, graphite, licorice and lavender. Wonderfully suave and seamless, but with great purity and precision of flavor and terrific inner-palate perfume and lift. This dances over every square millimeter of the palate. Almost painfully young today, with an impression of fresh acidity serving to intensify the wine's flavors. About as austere a wine as I tasted from this vintage in April and yet it's not hard. Finishes with substantial dusty tannins and a whiplash of minerally perfume. I'd forget about this one for about 15 years. (May/Jun 2008)"

19.5/20 points La Revue du Vin de France: "What a wine! The essence of Lafite, compact, powerful, and profound, with an exemplary refinement and sumptuous tannin. (Jan 2012)"