3 hour decant. Enjoyed this one immensely over a two day period. Full bodied and intense jammy plum with earth and tobacco notes. Very lush from start to finish. Still has room to go.
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I’d say this wine is flawed but it is the exact same experience I had with a bottle at a restaurant and it had the same issues. Someone earlier said it came across as a “dirty old wine” which I agree with. There are oxidative features that are hard to get past. RP points pointed this out and said it might haunt owners at a future date and gave it 95? With the dread ? LPB and JD gave it very high scores. Wonder if there are different bottles out there. Love right bank wines. Not this one. The 2000 was quite nice. Not sure what happened with some of these bottles.
(Almost dried) plum, spices, tobacco, hints of earth. Tannins prominent, velvety. Gorgeous long finish. More expressive with time, would decant for 1h at a minimum.
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The time had come. The single bottle I purchased on a whim almost a decade ago had been picked for a Bordeaux tasting.
And so it was that I began the 5 hour decant, hesitant to take in the first hint of a nose I was frightened of after reading a few of the less than positive reviews... the "stewed prunes" and "indescribable" aroma.
I needn't have worried.
From the first blast of fruit upon the initial opening, it was gorgeous plum and velvety deep cherry for days. The nose was so decadently pungent as to take your breath away. Full beast mode.
Came upon the grit at the bottom of the bottle and decided to pour the small remnant into a glass for a quick assessment.
Unbelievable! Superb depth of fruit, melded seamlessly with almost mature tannins and a laser-precise structure of acidity set against the backdrop of the rare earth of Western France. The harmony unleashed between the Merlot and Cab Franc is smooth as silk and the characteristic tartness of Bordeaux is tempered here with extraordinary craftsmanship of flavor and focus.
This, along with a 2005 Rauzen-Segla (also fantastic!) and two other notable offerings, were my first foray into Bordeaux in quite some time so it was VERY nice to have nothing but winners in the bunch that memorable evening.
If you have properly stored your lot, the '05 Clos de Sarpe is only now beginning to hit its stride. Those with the luxury of several bottles should try at least one or two before too long. I will likely be dead before this bottle is undrinkable, it has that much life left.
Don't miss it!
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Really enjoyed this wine. In my view, perfect to drink now after an hour decant. Nose is intense but the wine is balanced with fruit under control. Harmonious.
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This wine has been open for 8 hours in a decanter. The mondemnsional, drab nose just started to cede it’s dominance. There is a lot there is you are not in a rush.
The nose was indescribable. The color was gorgeous, deep red and not a wif or age. The wine is so tight and youthful that you cannot believe it is 14 years old. Great velvety mouth feel
Black current, black plums, espresso, spice, chocolate( this wine refuses to evolve and release!
And btw, when I started this note I was noncommittal as far as liking, and the nose so awkward and strange that I had difficulty even trying to be positive, as strange as it sounds, once it opens up the wine jumps in quality.
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From Magnum: This wine, like so many other 05' St. Emilions, is a beast. It needs 2 hours of air and will keep growing for the next 2 hours....At first,I thought that it was overpacked to the point of uncrecognition with its deep dark red and black fruit. Then it started unfurling slowly and reveling itself with lots of pomegranate pith and spice.Turned more dense and deep and later bloomed into a rich wine, throwing hints of espresso and truffle while being anchored in enough acidity to keep all heavy components suspended in a floating freshness. Needs about 7 years or more, but this is just a monster. HOLD
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Medium to dark red; spice box, lots of spices, caramel, little pepper, wet forest ground; well balanced, well rounded, slightly acidic (but not too much), bit tannic and dry ending
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Popped and poured; consumed over a five hour period. This bottle came from my cellar. Two immediate reactions were 1) the inside of the bottle looked like it had a patina (sediment) coating the side it had been laying on and 2) the fruit smelled stewed and overripe. However, it tasted nothing like that. Instead, it was much brighter with dark and red fruits, earth and baking spices with a hefty bit of acid lifting everything up. After about 90 minutes, the nose became much more vibrant with red-rope licorice, old leather and cedar chest. Close to the end of the bottle, this was showing its best but it was also beginning to exhibit more structure with tannin and acid taking a more central role. Somewhat strange experience. Not sure what to make of the future for this. Wishing I had more clarity...and another bottle (maybe??) to see if these become something more special with additional age...or perhaps this is it. One thing is for sure, it's not a boring wine.
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Powerful, full-bodied, concentrated and showing saline character from all its stony qualities, herbs, tobacco, ripe, tannic black raspberries, plums and a hint of florality. This is quite young and fresh, it will take at least another decade to soften and pull all its qualities together.
This is a strange wine. On the nose there is oxidative tones, stewed or dried fruit, prunes, raisins, etc.. You expect a big ripe fruit forward wine. However the acidity is so high there is no fruity pleasure on the plate at all. With 2 hours of air you begin to see some sweet red fruit, peppery spice, and chalky minerality underneath the stewed fruit quality. The aroma stays the same, prune and stewed fruit. The acid and tannin are substantial. I am not sure where this can go from here. I wonder if this is how it tasted when Parker gave it such a high score?
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Fairly coarse tannins and a residual stewed quality seriously detracted from this wine. Purchased on release, but I have no earlier data points by which to judge it. Poured down the drain. A second bottle was no better.
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A private tasting (Jan-Dirk Taams' residence, Groot-Ammers, Netherlands): Stewed fruit on the nose, oxidative, overripe; rather raw tannins, hint of dried cocoa, over-extracted, disjointed; black cherries on the finish and lots of drying oak. Not sure what the producer was trying to achieve here, but I do not like it. Not rated.
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It was a plummy, deep noted wine upon decanting. At the restaurant it had developed a veil of "dirty old wine". Not corked, cooked or oxidized, just OLD. Think: biological experiment...
However, behind its fault, is a young, fullbodied wine with snappy acids and high grade tannins. The concentration alone vouches for this wine having a grand and splendid future...
5 btls to go, next one around 2020, still expecting a very young wine, hoping to have a more thorough experience than tonight though.
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Dark to black red; fresh dark berries, slightly subdued expression; deep fruit, some green tannins, more lean than volumnious; a nice glass with lots of fruit but also quite some tannins and a bit tree-like
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Coravin sample. This Clos Sarpe has evolved a good amount showing a nose of sweet fruit and new oak. Fleshy palate of mouth staining ripe raspberries with plenty yet soft tannins. Need a bit more time to show some tertiary notes. Hold for another 3 years.
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Beautiful in the glass. Fully body, Inky dark purple with brick edge. Young with ample tannin this wine has longevity written all over it. Rich dark plum and blackberry with earth, saddle and tobacco. Long finish but texture didn't linger mid palate. It tasted leaner than it looked but Very good. Recommended.
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Opaque, dark purple color with long legs. Young, primary with some green notes, with time, aromas of sweet currants, licorice, minerals, wet wood, earth and cream reveal themselves. Juicy attack on the palate, loads of dark and purple fruits and berries, vanilla, oak and a hint of cigar. Behind the ripe, juicy mouth feel is that big wall of tannins, firm but rather round and tasty. The wine is in its odd stage, but you can definitely feel the potential of greatness when it reaches the drinking window.
Big thanks to DP for this nice bottle.
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We opened this bottle by mistake - but didn't regret it for a moment. The nose was quite subdued and didn't prepare you for what was coming next at all. From start to finish this wine was about dark fruit such black raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. The tannins still had a strong grip on this wine but not nearly as much as you would think on a Clos des Sarpe. The finish was multilayered with some oak vanillin, figs, and a hint of smoke. It will be amazing to see where this winds up over the next 10 to 20 years.
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Massive in layers of concentrated fruit, huge tannins and minerality. Not a lot of fun to taste today, but interesting to check in on it. Licorice, plum, earth, black cherry, spice, herbs and crushed rocks. The wine clearly fills your mouth and coats your palate with intensity and purity. If you can wait another decade, wait. If not, leave it in the decanter for a few hours. This is a unique, mineral driven expression of St Emilion.
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Excellent wine that I opened a little soon. Decanted for over 1 hour. Great nose of dark fruit (black currant and blackberry). A dark purple color, a big wine with fruit, earth, chocolate and nice tannins. Highly recommended.
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put into decanter( a fair amount of mud on the bottom) and small taste poured... really tight... but a ton of promise. This started to unwind within an hour in the decanter so I poured it back into the bottle and began to enjoy. This is my first sample of this wine and I am happily suprised at how forgiving it is compared to everything I had read. Will it improve w/ time , absolutely, if you have a few is it an enjoyable quaff to get a reference point and enjoy a big, tannic full fruited food wine, again absolutely. I was drinking this without food as an warm up for a dinner I did not want to attend but it would have been phenomenal with a big juicy fatty ribsteak.
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I've got a case of this but didn't want to open it and found a half-bottle in California. Popped and poured over dinner. Probably because it was a 1/2 bottle, the tannins have been tamed, quite in balance. Lots of fruit, smokey nose, mocha, minerals, dark fruit. Very dark and concentrated but lots of balance and complexity. A great wine. Full bottles will probably need more time!
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Dinner with Co-Workers (Mario's Mondo Cafe, Glenview IL): nose: rich and modern nose of dark red cherries, herbs, cedar, berries, and some bits of black currants. Fairly tight, but showing good depth and robustness on the nose
taste: very good medium/full body with chewy and big tannins as well as tones of berries, dark red cherries, herbs and some black currants
overall: in need of some serious nap time before its ready. This didn't get too much of a decant, and it really could've used one. Lots of promise, this won't be an elegant wine as it has a light-heavyweight quality to it, but there is a lot to like that needs time to come out
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Rich, tarry, raisined currant, earth and chocolate nose. Full, dry and tannic palate; very firm finish. My suspicions are that there won't be enough fruit to see this to term and find a balance with the tannins.
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Popped and poured at a retail tasting. Nose is very expressive showing dark fruits, blackberry, clove, and some briar. Very luscious nose. Palate is silky smooth and luxurious, showing primarily dark fruit reduction (blackberries, dark raspberries), huge amounts of clove, some licorice, and if I hold it on the palate for a while, I taste some very fruity candy. Not like the sweetened modern stuff, but this is your grandfather's type of soft fruit candy. Very tasty, and becoming more dry on the palate. The finish is quite closed, with plenty of tannins, but not at all bitter, showing more of the dark fruit. Finish is currently quite short, but this definitely has the stuffing to be a magical wine with more time. Delicious stuff, with a more traditional Bordeaux approach.
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Brilliant. Obviously this wine needs at least another 5 years, but nevertheless the aroma was jumping out of the glass. Strawberry, liquorice, oak and vanilla buried behind a mountain of tannins.
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Mixed blindtasting: Tight, dark red color with a purple rim. Sweet ripe, black cherries, some coconut and sweet licorice on the nose. Very ripe fruit first in the mouth, but it is clean and focused rather than becoming stewed. Long, long taste with licorice and sweet tobacco on the finish. Powerful bitterness and extremely powerful tannins – but drawing out mouth water. Very concentrated with some glycerin at the end, yet it remains refined and elegant. Superb balance and finesse.
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11/8/2023 - APS2 Likes this wine: 94 Points
3 hour decant. Enjoyed this one immensely over a two day period. Full bodied and intense jammy plum with earth and tobacco notes. Very lush from start to finish. Still has room to go.
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10/23/2023 - cliffkol wrote: 94 Points
Coravin - Very bright, still fresh red fruits, supreme depth of flavors, mature tannins. Great structure
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1/20/2022 - ZekeBoston Does not like this wine: 82 Points
I’d say this wine is flawed but it is the exact same experience I had with a bottle at a restaurant and it had the same issues. Someone earlier said it came across as a “dirty old wine” which I agree with. There are oxidative features that are hard to get past. RP points pointed this out and said it might haunt owners at a future date and gave it 95? With the dread ? LPB and JD gave it very high scores. Wonder if there are different bottles out there. Love right bank wines. Not this one. The 2000 was quite nice. Not sure what happened with some of these bottles.
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1/8/2022 - Kierkegaard wrote: 93 Points
Decanted three hours before, which did it good
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1/31/2021 - Smoky86 wrote: 94 Points
(Almost dried) plum, spices, tobacco, hints of earth. Tannins prominent, velvety. Gorgeous long finish. More expressive with time, would decant for 1h at a minimum.
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1/29/2021 - JuzMaintain Likes this wine: 94 Points
The time had come. The single bottle I purchased on a whim almost a decade ago had been picked for a Bordeaux tasting.
And so it was that I began the 5 hour decant, hesitant to take in the first hint of a nose I was frightened of after reading a few of the less than positive reviews... the "stewed prunes" and "indescribable" aroma.
I needn't have worried.
From the first blast of fruit upon the initial opening, it was gorgeous plum and velvety deep cherry for days. The nose was so decadently pungent as to take your breath away. Full beast mode.
Came upon the grit at the bottom of the bottle and decided to pour the small remnant into a glass for a quick assessment.
Unbelievable! Superb depth of fruit, melded seamlessly with almost mature tannins and a laser-precise structure of acidity set against the backdrop of the rare earth of Western France. The harmony unleashed between the Merlot and Cab Franc is smooth as silk and the characteristic tartness of Bordeaux is tempered here with extraordinary craftsmanship of flavor and focus.
This, along with a 2005 Rauzen-Segla (also fantastic!) and two other notable offerings, were my first foray into Bordeaux in quite some time so it was VERY nice to have nothing but winners in the bunch that memorable evening.
If you have properly stored your lot, the '05 Clos de Sarpe is only now beginning to hit its stride. Those with the luxury of several bottles should try at least one or two before too long. I will likely be dead before this bottle is undrinkable, it has that much life left.
Don't miss it!
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11/1/2020 - acheng wrote:
This has not aged well at all and is a mess of a wine. Reminiscent of their 95. A soupy high tone nose and devoid of pleasure. What a shame.
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8/29/2020 - travelculture Likes this wine: 94 Points
Really enjoyed this wine. In my view, perfect to drink now after an hour decant. Nose is intense but the wine is balanced with fruit under control. Harmonious.
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11/3/2019 - Wine MOB Likes this wine: 95 Points
This wine has been open for 8 hours in a decanter. The mondemnsional, drab nose just started to cede it’s dominance. There is a lot there is you are not in a rush.
The nose was indescribable. The color was gorgeous, deep red and not a wif or age. The wine is so tight and youthful that you cannot believe it is 14 years old. Great velvety mouth feel
Black current, black plums, espresso, spice, chocolate( this wine refuses to evolve and release!
And btw, when I started this note I was noncommittal as far as liking, and the nose so awkward and strange that I had difficulty even trying to be positive, as strange as it sounds, once it opens up the wine jumps in quality.
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4/11/2019 - Purple Tooth wrote: 93 Points
From Magnum: This wine, like so many other 05' St. Emilions, is a beast. It needs 2 hours of air and will keep growing for the next 2 hours....At first,I thought that it was overpacked to the point of uncrecognition with its deep dark red and black fruit. Then it started unfurling slowly and reveling itself with lots of pomegranate pith and spice.Turned more dense and deep and later bloomed into a rich wine, throwing hints of espresso and truffle while being anchored in enough acidity to keep all heavy components suspended in a floating freshness. Needs about 7 years or more, but this is just a monster. HOLD
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12/29/2018 - Miceri Likes this wine: 93 Points
Medium to dark red; spice box, lots of spices, caramel, little pepper, wet forest ground; well balanced, well rounded, slightly acidic (but not too much), bit tannic and dry ending
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8/21/2018 - thesternowl wrote:
Popped and poured; consumed over a five hour period. This bottle came from my cellar. Two immediate reactions were 1) the inside of the bottle looked like it had a patina (sediment) coating the side it had been laying on and 2) the fruit smelled stewed and overripe. However, it tasted nothing like that. Instead, it was much brighter with dark and red fruits, earth and baking spices with a hefty bit of acid lifting everything up. After about 90 minutes, the nose became much more vibrant with red-rope licorice, old leather and cedar chest. Close to the end of the bottle, this was showing its best but it was also beginning to exhibit more structure with tannin and acid taking a more central role. Somewhat strange experience. Not sure what to make of the future for this. Wishing I had more clarity...and another bottle (maybe??) to see if these become something more special with additional age...or perhaps this is it. One thing is for sure, it's not a boring wine.
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6/3/2017 - Fateful Destiny Does not like this wine: 75 Points
Agree with many of the others. The wine is off in a bad way. I may pour it down the drain
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3/19/2017 - Jeff Leve wrote: 93 Points
Powerful, full-bodied, concentrated and showing saline character from all its stony qualities, herbs, tobacco, ripe, tannic black raspberries, plums and a hint of florality. This is quite young and fresh, it will take at least another decade to soften and pull all its qualities together.
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11/26/2016 - tzelmer Does not like this wine: 88 Points
This is a strange wine. On the nose there is oxidative tones, stewed or dried fruit, prunes, raisins, etc.. You expect a big ripe fruit forward wine. However the acidity is so high there is no fruity pleasure on the plate at all. With 2 hours of air you begin to see some sweet red fruit, peppery spice, and chalky minerality underneath the stewed fruit quality. The aroma stays the same, prune and stewed fruit. The acid and tannin are substantial. I am not sure where this can go from here. I wonder if this is how it tasted when Parker gave it such a high score?
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10/27/2016 - Fiorano wrote: 72 Points
Fairly coarse tannins and a residual stewed quality seriously detracted from this wine. Purchased on release, but I have no earlier data points by which to judge it. Poured down the drain. A second bottle was no better.
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10/19/2015 - Xavier Auerbach wrote:
A private tasting (Jan-Dirk Taams' residence, Groot-Ammers, Netherlands): Stewed fruit on the nose, oxidative, overripe; rather raw tannins, hint of dried cocoa, over-extracted, disjointed; black cherries on the finish and lots of drying oak. Not sure what the producer was trying to achieve here, but I do not like it. Not rated.
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6/7/2015 - Hazevedo Does not like this wine: 89 Points
Over the time. It should be consumed before. The color has no brighter
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7/8/2014 - StefanAkiko wrote: flawed
It was a plummy, deep noted wine upon decanting. At the restaurant it had developed a veil of "dirty old wine". Not corked, cooked or oxidized, just OLD. Think: biological experiment...
However, behind its fault, is a young, fullbodied wine with snappy acids and high grade tannins. The concentration alone vouches for this wine having a grand and splendid future...
5 btls to go, next one around 2020, still expecting a very young wine, hoping to have a more thorough experience than tonight though.
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5/18/2014 - farinas Likes this wine: 92 Points
Consistent with previous note
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3/16/2014 - Miceri Likes this wine: 90 Points
Dark to black red; fresh dark berries, slightly subdued expression; deep fruit, some green tannins, more lean than volumnious; a nice glass with lots of fruit but also quite some tannins and a bit tree-like
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3/8/2014 - farinas Likes this wine:
Coravin sample. This Clos Sarpe has evolved a good amount showing a nose of sweet fruit and new oak. Fleshy palate of mouth staining ripe raspberries with plenty yet soft tannins. Need a bit more time to show some tertiary notes. Hold for another 3 years.
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1/27/2014 - eschaefer wrote: 92 Points
Beautiful in the glass. Fully body, Inky dark purple with brick edge. Young with ample tannin this wine has longevity written all over it. Rich dark plum and blackberry with earth, saddle and tobacco. Long finish but texture didn't linger mid palate. It tasted leaner than it looked but Very good. Recommended.
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4/19/2013 - Cheungtp wrote: 93 Points
Opaque, dark purple color with long legs. Young, primary with some green notes, with time, aromas of sweet currants, licorice, minerals, wet wood, earth and cream reveal themselves. Juicy attack on the palate, loads of dark and purple fruits and berries, vanilla, oak and a hint of cigar. Behind the ripe, juicy mouth feel is that big wall of tannins, firm but rather round and tasty. The wine is in its odd stage, but you can definitely feel the potential of greatness when it reaches the drinking window.
Big thanks to DP for this nice bottle.
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10/23/2012 - TMacpherson Likes this wine: 94 Points
We opened this bottle by mistake - but didn't regret it for a moment. The nose was quite subdued and didn't prepare you for what was coming next at all. From start to finish this wine was about dark fruit such black raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. The tannins still had a strong grip on this wine but not nearly as much as you would think on a Clos des Sarpe. The finish was multilayered with some oak vanillin, figs, and a hint of smoke. It will be amazing to see where this winds up over the next 10 to 20 years.
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9/25/2012 - Jeff Leve wrote: 94 Points
Massive in layers of concentrated fruit, huge tannins and minerality. Not a lot of fun to taste today, but interesting to check in on it. Licorice, plum, earth, black cherry, spice, herbs and crushed rocks. The wine clearly fills your mouth and coats your palate with intensity and purity. If you can wait another decade, wait. If not, leave it in the decanter for a few hours. This is a unique, mineral driven expression of St Emilion.
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7/2/2012 - Blackland wrote: 94 Points
Excellent wine that I opened a little soon. Decanted for over 1 hour. Great nose of dark fruit (black currant and blackberry). A dark purple color, a big wine with fruit, earth, chocolate and nice tannins. Highly recommended.
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1/13/2012 - JDB wrote: 92 Points
put into decanter( a fair amount of mud on the bottom) and small taste poured... really tight... but a ton of promise. This started to unwind within an hour in the decanter so I poured it back into the bottle and began to enjoy. This is my first sample of this wine and I am happily suprised at how forgiving it is compared to everything I had read. Will it improve w/ time , absolutely, if you have a few is it an enjoyable quaff to get a reference point and enjoy a big, tannic full fruited food wine, again absolutely. I was drinking this without food as an warm up for a dinner I did not want to attend but it would have been phenomenal with a big juicy fatty ribsteak.
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9/3/2011 - rjlud wrote: 94 Points
I've got a case of this but didn't want to open it and found a half-bottle in California. Popped and poured over dinner. Probably because it was a 1/2 bottle, the tannins have been tamed, quite in balance. Lots of fruit, smokey nose, mocha, minerals, dark fruit. Very dark and concentrated but lots of balance and complexity. A great wine. Full bottles will probably need more time!
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2/27/2010 - KeithAkers wrote: 91 Points
Dinner with Co-Workers (Mario's Mondo Cafe, Glenview IL): nose: rich and modern nose of dark red cherries, herbs, cedar, berries, and some bits of black currants. Fairly tight, but showing good depth and robustness on the nose
taste: very good medium/full body with chewy and big tannins as well as tones of berries, dark red cherries, herbs and some black currants
overall: in need of some serious nap time before its ready. This didn't get too much of a decant, and it really could've used one. Lots of promise, this won't be an elegant wine as it has a light-heavyweight quality to it, but there is a lot to like that needs time to come out
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9/1/2009 - Double-A wrote:
Rich, tarry, raisined currant, earth and chocolate nose. Full, dry and tannic palate; very firm finish. My suspicions are that there won't be enough fruit to see this to term and find a balance with the tannins.
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3/13/2009 - David Paris (dbp) wrote: 94 Points
Popped and poured at a retail tasting. Nose is very expressive showing dark fruits, blackberry, clove, and some briar. Very luscious nose. Palate is silky smooth and luxurious, showing primarily dark fruit reduction (blackberries, dark raspberries), huge amounts of clove, some licorice, and if I hold it on the palate for a while, I taste some very fruity candy. Not like the sweetened modern stuff, but this is your grandfather's type of soft fruit candy. Very tasty, and becoming more dry on the palate. The finish is quite closed, with plenty of tannins, but not at all bitter, showing more of the dark fruit. Finish is currently quite short, but this definitely has the stuffing to be a magical wine with more time. Delicious stuff, with a more traditional Bordeaux approach.
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2/2/2009 - rbazinet wrote: 95 Points
Brilliant. Obviously this wine needs at least another 5 years, but nevertheless the aroma was jumping out of the glass. Strawberry, liquorice, oak and vanilla buried behind a mountain of tannins.
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11/25/2008 - Terkel wrote: 95 Points
Mixed blindtasting: Tight, dark red color with a purple rim. Sweet ripe, black cherries, some coconut and sweet licorice on the nose. Very ripe fruit first in the mouth, but it is clean and focused rather than becoming stewed. Long, long taste with licorice and sweet tobacco on the finish. Powerful bitterness and extremely powerful tannins – but drawing out mouth water. Very concentrated with some glycerin at the end, yet it remains refined and elegant. Superb balance and finesse.
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