UGC tasting. Really good. Surprisingly forward with tropical notes like candied pineapple ungirded with citrusy accents and some nutty flavours all wrapped in a cloak of well applied oak. Mouthwateringly fresh, great balance, long finish.

UGC tasting. Very good, but rather one-dimensional at this stage. Very ripe, almost over-ripe nose, with prunes and stewed cherries. Sweet fruits continued on the palate, with firm tannins, with a slight bitter kick, and lovely fresh acidity. Lots and lots of peppery spice. Surprisingly a little short on the finish compared to the excellent Angelus I had alongside. However, this had wonderful concentration, really great balance and structure - all the constituent parts are there to make it quite a stunner in the future. At this point, it really needs lots of time and patience.

UGC tasting. Fantastic. Best white of the tasting, one of the best wines white or red. A lot more serious than the Chevalier or the Smith Haut Lafitte, this has structure to last a long time. Rather tight at the moment, flinty and minerally on the nose, with the typical cat's piss of young Bordeaux Blanc, lemony citrus notes, and some smokey nuttiness. Absolutely focused and well built on the palate. Fantastic balance with great freshness and a real sense of elegance and poise. Super finish.

UGC tasting. Very good indeed, but I prefered the Pape Clement and the Domaine de Chevalier. Not everyone in the group agreed with me though. This was rather fruity, with lemon oil and white flowers on the nose with a slightly sweet palate reminiscent of nectarine. Lashings of buttery oak. The flavours were yummy and mouthfilling, with a nice creamy feel to the wine and very good length. Excellent now, but I think the former two wines will age better.

UGC tasting. So hard to judge this wine, simply because it is so tight and tannic at the moment. Beautiful nose, redolent with sweet violets, wet earth and an almost peanut-buttery lashing of oak. The palate was another story altogether, with ultra-firm tannins. Fine-grained, but dry as a bone. Some prune flavours showed through, with grainy Chinese herbs, but all were overshadowed by the hulking tannic struture. I think this will come good, but boy it will need time.

UGC tasting. This was absolutely superb. Still extremely young, very closed, and far from ready to drink. Still, quite clearly my red wine of the tasting. Lovely, really complex flavours even at this stage, with violets and sweet cherries, mushroom, earth and some licorice notes, floating along on a bed of mocha from the oak. The palate was really, really plush, but with a solid backbone of firm tannins and good acid. The super-long finish ended with notes of spice, nutmeg and peppermint. Wow. I would love to try this 25 years down the road.

UGC tasting. Rather closed at this point of time, so much so that the oak clearly dominates with lashings of burnt toffee, caramel and spice. However, the wines breeding still certainly shows thought the tremendously clear, balanced and elegant palate. Very plush, with firm tannins and a wonderful high-toned freshness. After some swirling, cassis fruit with really good purity began to peek out from under the oak before subsiding again. This will be really nice down the road, but I'm not going to touch my bottle for the next 10 years.

UGC tasting. Excellent. Pape Clement really showed well with both the Blanc and the Rouge. This was my favourite Pessac red at the tasting by a mile. Classic barnyard and leather nose, with a dense, extremely concentrated palate, full of plush dark fruits and great balance and freshness. Very decent finish as well. This would go incredibly well with a rack of lamb.

UGC tasting. Very pretty, plush and balanced, with lots and lots of plummy fruit and a decent finish. Strangely, this wine had everything in the right place, but just seemed to lack any oomph. Good, but not very exciting.

UGC tasting. This was very good. Sweet vanilla, plums and cloves on the nose, with floral topnotes wafting in with some time in the glass. Plums, blackcurrants and spice on the palate. Great balance, very nice velvety mouthfeel, with noticeable tannins and acid undergirding the very atrractive flavours. Lovely, and will get better with time.

UGC tasting. Bramble and earth nose, dry and tannic on the palate, slightly bitter almost, but with the really nice freshness that marks so many of the 2005s. Nice flavours with cherries, spice and chocolate. A little alcohol heat at the end. Not fantastic, but it is a well-made wine that I enjoyed quite a bit.

UGC tasting. A rather good wine, but quite a disappointment given the talking up that the proprietors gave me before I tasted it, saying that it was better than the wonderful 1990 that I last tried. It was certainly opulent and concentrated, with rich flavours of plum and spice. Delicious enough, with a plush and velvety mouthfeel, and good tannic grip and enough freshness. Still, the finish was rather short and the wine seemd a little simple and lacked a bit of something that would have made it stand out.

UGC tasting. Totally agree with the last poster - great now, but with the potential to be absolutely fantastic. Classic Pauillac with wonderful, wonderful purity of blackcurrant fruit. Great balance, with a tremendous freshness and good, firm tannins. Very clean, extremely focused. A little watery tinge on the finish disturbed me slightly. Still, my notes are littered with exclamation marks with this one. So very primary now, but with so many good things going on. Best Pontet Canet I've ever tried by quite a distance.

UGC tasting. Good wine, but rather heavy on the oak, so that the first thing that hit me was vanilla and toasted toffee. Some fruit and floral notes lurked under that. The palate was dense and thick, and there was good acidity that brought a nice sanse of balance. The finish had a flush of spice and alcohol heat. Not bad, well made and enjoyable, but a little simple and lacking the concentration of flavour to stand up to the oak at this point. May improve over time if and when the fruit begins to emerge from under all that toasty oak.

UGC tasting. Nice wine, but very straightforward and just a touch rustic. Clean flavours, with bramble, some fruit, frim tannins and a slightly green, minty finish.

UGC tasting. I note what the other posters are saying, and agree in many ways, but I presonally thought this was very good. Very concentrated cassis flavours wrapped in oak, with exotic spice and peppermint flavours. Very focused, dense, but had a great freshness and a very nice finish. This should do very well with time.

UGC tasting. I thought this was rather good, although it paled in comparison with the stellar Pontet Canet. Like so many of the other 2005s, fresh and balanced, with firm tannins (rather chewy in this case) and a plush feel. Clear cassis character, with good purity of fruit wrapped in sweet charred oak and spice. Nice long finish. Full bodied.

UGC tasting. Not bad, but certainly not as good as expected, especially looking back at the last few vintages when the Poyferre had really stood out from St Julien. Lovely nose, with mint, cassis and earth. Great freshness, and firm, but fine tannins that showed a little bitter and spicy at the end. A little alcoholic heat. I'm not sure whether it is due to bottle variation, but I certainly am not as impressed by this as some of the other people who have tasted it.

UGC tasting. Very forward, rich and opulent with loads of tropical fruit and flowery notes. Thick palate, again very rich and 14.5% alcohol. Open for business now, but not one for aging.

UGC tasting. This was really, really good. One of the stand-out wines of the tasting, along with the Angelus, Pontet Canet and the Pape Clement Blanc. Sweet oak and prune / blackberry on the nose, with licorice and spice notes. A dense, almost jammy palate, with great concentration and power. Round and fleshy, and a wonderfully long and persistent finish. Got better over time (we took away the last 1/3 bottle at the end of the tasting to savour slowly) with chocolate, peppermint and exotic spice notes developing. So big that it seems to totter towards inbalance, but everything just about falls nicely into place, with the nice fresh acid that marks 2005 and firm tannins lending structure and balance. It will certainly get even better as it mellows with age.

UGC tasting. Rather savoury nose with plums, mushrooms and white pepper scents. Very ripe and opulent palae, with some heat. The fresh acid really saves this wine from being OTT. Good finish. Rather simple and in your face given the standard of the vintage as a whole, but an enjoyable drink nonetheless.

UGC tasting. This was rather good indeed. Nice nose, with quite a bit of fruit peeking out from layers of oak. Wonderful fresh palate, with firm tannin backbone and a spicey finish. Thick, dense and concentrated, like so many of the 2005 Margaux, but nicely balanced nonetheless. Rather simple, but yummy.

UGC tasting. Alright, but really should have done better in such a stellar vintage. Rich, with some plummy fruit, and lots and lots of spice and toasty oak. Firm tannins, but, unsually for the vintage, lacking a bit of acid. Not bad, but certainly not impressive.

UGC tasting. I was not as impressed as as some of the others who tasted this. Nice enough nose, with horsey leather, fresh fruit and oak. Palate was very fresh and bright (especially compared to some of the unusually thick and dense Margaux) and showed some elegance. Just a little sour with the acid. Good for what it is, but should have done better given the vintage.

UGC tasting. Good, but not great. Rich and spicy, with savoury leather scents and clear cherry / berry flavours wrapped in tight tannins.

UGC tasting. Good, but I did not find it as great as some of the other posters. It certainly was complex and layered, with toasted pineapple scents and a really opulent, botrytised palate. Problem was that it was just a little too cloying for me even when served nice and chilled. It needs more bottle-age (which can be done) and more acid (which unfotunately cannot be changed). Berenice Lurton herself mentioned to us that this was a little sweet and lacking freshness compared with great vintages like 2001. Certainly better than some of the other 2005s on display, but still not my favourite.

UGC tasting. One of the few Sauternes that showed some freshness. However, this was really simple and lacking in the layered complexity and botrytis character that most of the others on show had. Decent, but nothing to shout about.

UGC tasting. Lovely pineapple, peach and slightly mushroomy flavours. A bit of spice at the end gave it a layer of complexity and interest. Only problem was that it lacked some acid, and turned out rather cloying, though fresher than some of the other 2005 stickies.

UGC tasting. This I thought was pretty good, one of the better ones from a rather disappointing 2005 Sauternes / Barsac lineup. Interesting nose with nectarine, dried apricots and spice. Slightly nutty on the palate, with a lovely long finish. Certainly more elegant, with better freshness than most of the other stickies. I enjoyed this quite a bit.

UGC tasting. Pretty citursy marmalade, and white chocolatey flavours. Not bad, but rather too sweet for my liking. Certainly as sweet as the Climens and the Guiraud, but lacking the complexity and the layered flavours. Not anywhere near as elegant as the Doisy Daene.

UGC tasting. Decent, but nowhere near as good as the blanc. This had a slightly bitter coffee nose and good concentrated fruit, with a nice sense of structure, but is still very very closed at the moment.

UGC tasting. Probably my favourite Sauternes in the lineup. I felt this was one of the better balanced ones, with good botrytis character, lovely tropical fruit and a good amount of complexity and poise. While not as opulent as some of the others (especially the Climens), this was rather cleaner and more focused. What set this apart for me was the sense of balance between power and freshness. Very nice, but I would need to compare this against the Rieussec and Suduiraut, which were missing, and the De Fargues, which ran out.

UGC tasting. Rather disappointing, given the growing reputation of Les Ormes de Pez. Very oaky, very dry, high acid, almost astringent. Where's the fruit? Really should have done better in 2005 of all vintages.

UGC tasting. Very disappointing for a 2005 classed growth. Tightly wound nose, with bramble and vanilla. Palate was every bit as tight, with fresh acid and chewy tannins, but little else.

UGC dinner. Not bad, not outstanding either. Dark yellow-gold colour. Extremely waxy nose, with the rather fleshy fruit, almost like custard apple, still wrapped in some oaky flavours. Still rather dry, with a sense of cleaness which I appreciated. Clearly into its secondary stage now, and I really am not too sure how much it will improve.

UGC dinner. Still fresh, and not a bad drink, with some white fruit character and minerals, but it seemed a bit simple with nothing really standing out to grab my interest.

UGC dinner, with Eduard Miailhe of Siran, who was a wonderful host for the table. This showed good Margaux typicity, with a perfumed, floral nose that had just a touch of green at its tail. Palate was sweetish, with a nice sense of freshness and a decent finish with a touch of spice from the pertit verdot. There was a good sense of balance and structure, with firm but fine tannins lurking in the background as well. Simple, but well-made and very approachable.

UGC dinner, brought by Eduard Miailhe of Siran. Lashings of spice at first, intermingled with a slightly brambly, vegetal scent, with the wine seeming rather closed . But it really improved with time, with plummy flavours, pepper and anise showing up. The palate was well balanced, firm tannins and good acdity. Finish was decent. The extra bottle age certainly shows; while this bottle did not have the freshness and fun of the 2005, it seemed to have a little more depth and complexity. I would keep this for a couple more years and give it a good, long decant before consuming it. I will have to open up another 2005 in a few years time to make a comparison. All in all, Siran seems to be really good value.

Unusually - it is 35% Cab, 50% Merlot and 15% Pertit Verdot. A legacy of the ancestral family, who also put more Merlot than normal in their Pichon-Lalande and Palmer properties. The Pertit Verdot showing up very interestingly in Siran in particular.

UGC dinner. This was absolutely lovely, probably my favourite wine of the dinner, I certainly preferred this to the really rather good 2005 that we had at the afternoon tasting. This wine is clearly entering into its secondary stage, with lots of deep and intriguing flavours emerging. The nose started out leathery and meaty, with plum and licorice flavours emerging, and then nicely integrated oak. Really plush, luxurious palate, with a great power and concentration balanced with very nice freshness. Typical Marguax softness and finesse. Great finish, with spice notes and a hint of cedar wood. The 2005 will certainly come good, but the 2000 speaks more clearly of Margaux to me.

UGC dinner. I thought this was alright, decent, but not terribly impressive. Leathery and slightly and savoury on the nose, with hints if soy sauce mixed with the cassis top notes. Good freshness on the palate, earthy and with very ripe cassis again. Just a little watery on the finish, and a touch rustic throughout.

UGC dinner. This was a bit disappointing. Promising nose, leathery, soy, with stewed, raisiny fruit. Palate was fresh, with interesting flavours of freshly ground pepper and more stewed fruit, Unfortunately, the wine seemed a little thin and watery, and finished rather roughly with bitter tannins.

UGC dinner. Enjoyed this very much. Sweaty leather on the nose at first, but that blew off slightly to show spice, anise, peppercorn and blackcurrant, all integrated nicely with the slight animale / barnyard tones that made the wine go so well with the grilled lamb course. Very concentrated on the palate, wet earth, with wafts of pepper and spice dotting the fruit. Nice stucture and good long finish. I would have liked a bit more elegance in my Margaux, but this is good value from a really good left-bank vintage.

UGC dinner, popped and poured at our table by David Launay from the Chateau, left in the glass for an hour or so. Opinions seem to be very mixed here, but I thought this very good, and perfectly paired with the grilled lamb dish. The wine is certainly quite tight now. Savoury leather nose, lots of pepper and spice, with the fruit needing some time to come out. There is a really nice sense of structure, however, with dusky tannins and nice fresh acid. I will stick my neck out and say this will be much better in 5 years. I have always been impressed by how well made Gruaud Larose is, vintage in and vintage out, and this wine, to me, demonstrates how it is certainly punching above it's weight.

UGC dinner. Very nice without being mind-blowing. Sweet, but with sufficient acid balance, flavours in the peach / nectarine / dried apricots spectrum. It is just about taking on the secondary flavours of caramel, butterscotch and nut. Decent finish with a hint of spice. Yum.

UGC dinner. This one had the little bit of freshness that I appreciate in my stickies, but seemed rather one-dimensional and lacking the botrytis punch. Spice, and syrupy backed apple flavours. Almost like eating a candied apple with cinamon flavouring. Not bad, but I do not see it getting taking on much more complexity down the road.

UGC dinner. Not bad, earth, stewed fruits and smoke on the nose. Quite a bit of power and concentration on the palate, with nice cassis character. Surprisingly soft and low in acid for a 2001. Maybe just lacking bit in elegance for that, but a good for what it is.

UGC dinner. I liked this - slightly simple, but elegant and showing good Pauillac typicity. Leathery nose, with really ripe blackberry flavours. Palate was thick and dense, but really fresh and extremely well structured. Excellent finish. Drinking nicely now, but some bottle age may help.

UGC dinner. Rather disappointing given the vintage. Leather and pepper dominated, fresh enough, with some cassis fruit, but very one-dimensional and lacking the power and concentration of a good 1996 left bank.

UGC dinner. Not bad, all spice and clean fruit, nice freshness, nice structure, surprisingly good finish. Still quite a bit of oak permeating the entire wine, distracting the palate slightly. Still, a decent wine at its price point.

UGC dinner. Decent, but my palate was half-dead by this time, so this note may be a little unfair. Cedar wood, spice, peppermint flavours dominated. The fruit seemed a bit tight. But there was a very nice sense of balance and finish on this one. Needs time.

UGC dinner. I am a great Pontet Canet fan, but I must this was disappointing after the absolutely stupendous 2005 tasted in the afternoon and the really delicious 2003 that I last had. Slight mushroomy nose, with some wet, mossy stone. On the palate, very distinct 2001 character in the tight, grippy tannins and slightly sour acid. Enough structure to go on for years, but like the last poster, I would ask "where is the fruit?" Well made as always, but this is in deep sleep at the moment and needs lots and lots of time.

UGC dinner. This had taken on the beautiful, golden amber colour of aged Sauternes. It was delicious, with the classic flavours of caramel, (hazel)nut and brown sugar. Slight savoury tinge, with uncanny Banofee like flavours dominating the palate, with just a little spice at the end. Simple, but absolutely yummy.

UGC dinner. Really sweet and botrytised, but with a good balance of acid. Rather simple, with nectarine flavours dominating the nose and palate. Climens has never been my favourite sticky. This was alright but nothing spectacular or even mildly exciting.

UGC dinner. Not bad, but really can do better for a 2000. Interesting nose with shitake mushroom and oyster sauce, loam and musky flowers. Almost like a forest floor after a downpour. Plush palate, with peppery spice and wood notes. Fruit is rather lacking from this one.

UGC dinner. Rather open for a 2001. Clearly oaky, almost too much, but with good structure, clear fruit and some freshness. Very nice finish. Not terribly complex, but still enjoyable.