2005 Château Canon-la-Gaffelière

Community Tasting Notes (146) Avg Score: 93.4 points

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  11/22/2023 - itsallgone wrote: flawed

  Totally corked from Costco

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  11/20/2023 - wconnolly Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Exceptional, well aged right bank Bordeaux. This was at peak with luscious raspberry, blackberry, leather and graphite flavors on the palate. Medium to full bodied with a lingering finish. Nicely balanced, integrated tannins and tasted more like a left bank offering.

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  11/6/2023 - CharlesHK Likes this wine: 93 Points

  The 2005 roadshow continues . . .
  
  Second bottle from a case of 12 purchased in 2018. Provenance guaranteed. Spur of the moment decision with this wine so I put it through an aerator and let breath in a decanter for 1 hour. Served at 21C, 14%. 55% merlot, 40% cabernet franc; 5% cabernet sauvignon.
  
  Note 1: I always use an “ah so” when opening wine unless it’s a composite cork. Really glad I always do. This is the first time a “grand cru” cork broke and crumbled like an Australian cork from the late 1980s, 1990s (when they got the arse-end of corks). I’m not a big fan of cork so I am biased. But, this was a pretty lousy cork to be honest.
  
  Note 2: this wine showed dramatic evolution from opening to serving to the end of the meal. Tight, closed, black on opening which is why I put it through an aerator. Then, opulent, plush plum and spice upon serving after 1 hour. Then, as the meal progressed, it closed up to a balanced, firm and dry right bank that was ever so slightly tough. It was as if the wine went from 2005 to 2009 to 2010 (then back to 2005?) in the course of two hours. Remarkable. A captivating wine that makes you want to keep drinking. But, it leaves you thinking when should I open another bottle?
  
  Nose: black coffee and dried fruit on opening, really expressive bouquet of plums and spices on serving (1 hour), then it all just disappeared, vanished.
  
  Colour: dark garnet with the slightest bricking. Less viscosity than the nose on serving would suggest. This is not an overblown wine by any means.
  
  Taste: there is an extraordinary amount of depth in this wine that is really showcased over the course of a rich meal. Merlot opulence and plum, a lot of CF dried flowers and earth, but also a lot of backbone. Black coffee, slightly bitter finish. If you only drank it at 2+ hours you could easily write austere. What will become of these top-shelf 2005s? They are still such a work in progress.
  
  This wine is still on a journey, but tonight was an interesting and at times delicious stop as it moves towards its destination. A complete, complex, and interesting right bank 2005, one of the best 2005s tasted to date. When should I try this wine again? That is the question. Glad I've got more in my cellar, but ever so slightly worried that the toughness will outlive the fruit.

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  10/28/2023 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 93 Points

  Académie des Cinquante 67th Annual Dinner: Lovely richness of Merlot fruit, generous and elegant, complete and energetic, freshness from the Cabernet Franc, firm structure, excellent balance and length.

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  10/26/2023 - hsunch@yahoo.com wrote: 93 Points

  Great bottle of wine. Very tannic and acidic in the beginning, got better later into dinner.

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