2005 Château Cissac

Community Tasting Notes (50) Avg Score: 88.1 points

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  3/17/2024 - johnrm Likes this wine: 89 Points

  I normally open a bottle of claret and leave it for an hour or three (or I decant it) before tasting. However, my wife and I tasted this immediately on opening and agreed that it was unbalanced - all acidity and tannin. Given even half an hour in the glass, it had settled down and it continued to develop over an hour or more to the point where my last note on this vintage still applied.
  It was very good with food (roast ham etc.) and with cheese later. Without food, the firm tannic structure was more evident.
  The way the wine opened reinforces my long-standing rule - never ‘pop and pour’ a decent wine if you want to appreciate it properly. Give it some time to open and show. 89+

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  11/18/2023 - johnrm Likes this wine: 89 Points

  Another brief note to emphasise that suggestions that this wine is past it’s best are not justified. Still very dark (totally opaque) with no obvious suggestions of age. Good nose, plenty of dark fruits, soft tannins, good balance and acidity making it brilliant with food (duck breasts in a plum sauce) and later, when the (mainly damson) fruit persisted and the wine developed cedar notes again.
  The last glass demanded food and was excellent with soft cheese and fruit. 89+

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  7/19/2023 - johnrm Likes this wine: 89 Points

  A short note to confirm my recent views of this wine (especially in view of the suggestion by many over recent years that the wine was past its best). It was opened early and was drinking well over 6+ hours. Plenty of cedar and leathery tannins to offset the restrained dark fruit. Half a bottle was kept until next day and it showed more fruit and spice to balance the cedar and soft leather. It developed rich, savoury notes and had plenty of acidity for food. 89+
  Note added in October 2023. After 4-5h and time in the glass, this showed its quality. Even better with, and after, food.
  Definitely 89+ (and that is probably a bit mean).

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  6/3/2023 - johnrm Likes this wine: 89 Points

  Still working our way through the rest of a dozen. This was drinking well a couple of hours after opening. It showed the usual austere Cissac character with more savoury character than fruit but with a good balance of acidity and tannin, appropriate for food.
  It was set aside until dinner and, 6h after opening, it was a good match for a slightly spiced beef stir-fry. Later, it was softer with good length. I don't think it will improve with further cellaring.

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  1/28/2023 - johnrm Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Opened 8h early. Excellent (as previous notes) but it still improved in the glass. A third of a bottle was left and was even better next day. It has plenty of life, yet. An excellent vintage - well worth cellaring to this point.

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