Golden colour. A mature and pleasant nose with slightly old yellow apples, classical bready notes, some gunpowder smoke and toasted notes including coffee. Rather noticeable development. Dry on the palate with ripe fruit notes, apples of mixed colour, good acidity, noticeable minerality, as well as some pepper and other spice notes. Rather ready in its development, but can take a lot more time in the cellar. 91 p.
From a magnum.

Compared to previous encounters, there are now more development and a more typical Jacquesson style.

Somewhat pale colour at the edge. Nose with mature strawberries and some cherries with a slightly herbaceous note, spices with some oak barrel feeling. As it was sitting in the glass, more flowery notes emerged, but that took some time. Palate with ripe strawberries, some cherries, pronounced stony and chalky minerality and a noticeable acidity, some spice tones and some tannins. Definitely a Clos de Vougeot on the elegant side. Comes across as more or less fully developed, 91 p.

Nose with ripe strawberries, some cherries, a hint of liquorice and balsamico notes, distinctly flowery, with a well integrated oak barrel note and marvelous elegance! The palate is just above medium-bodied with ripe strawberries, some cherries, pronounced chalky minerality, pronounced and fine acidity, as well as well embedded tannins. This wine shows great purity and elegance, but with tendency of being "closed down" on the palate, so it is probably on its way to a less expressive phase. Now I'd say 94+ p but the wonderful nose would easily carry a higher score if the palate had been completely "open".

Classical, powerful and rather young Bordeaux nose with blackcurrants and notes of even darker berries, some barnyard aromas and tar, a hint of dried herbs, and well integrated oak. The palate is medium bodied+, with blackcurrants, good acidity, some tar and pepper notes, tannins that are well integrated into the fruit, and an aftertaste dominated by dark berries with some tannins. Still on the young side, but somewhat accessible now, 94+ p.

Poyferré is usually called modern in style, but in the 2005 this is combined with a very fine balance on the palate and classical vibes.

Light amber-noted golden colour. The nose is big and shows some caramelized and dried notes, some nutty notes and an impression of chopped nuts, some fried apples with mild spices, somewhat aromatic with some of that (pleasant) "glue note" that can often be found in mature Sauternes. The palate is sweet, with dried fruit, some madeirized notes, powerful concentration, good acidity, a very prominent spiciness, and a really long and spicy aftertaste. Several glasses were poured at the same time, and initially there was a bit of an old cellar aroma that then blew away with some time. Considering these initial notes, this was perhaps not a perfect bottle, but it finished marvelously well. 95 p?

Brown or mahogany colour with a yellow edge. Classical Madeira nose with burnt sugar, molasses, powerful spice notes and dried fruit. Sweet palate, again with classical mature Madeira notes of caramel and burnt sugar, good concentration, massive acidity and spices, and a long aftertaste. Mature now, 93 p.

This wine did perhaps not show quite the amount of citrus notes that many other older Madeiras do, but otherwise all the classical notes were there.