Burgundy

2005 with perfect, healthy grapes and ideal harvest conditions is regarded by many as the greatest vintage in the modern era of Burgundy, rivaling the great 1959s and eclipsing all vintages thereafter. It is considered by many top growers to be as close to perfection as any young Burgundy vintage for the last fifty years.

Bruce Sanderson, of The Wine Spectator, which is coincidentally featuring 2005 and 2006 Burgundies in their next issue, May 31st, writes, "The top wines are stunning. Since my last tasting report I have blind tasted 570 2005 red Burgundies. It's the type of vintage that comes along once, maybe twice, a generation.The wines have loads of everything-ripe fruit, acidity, tannins, color, and the ability to age for a long time. I rate the vintage 98 points. Unfortunately, greatness comes at a price. The 2005 reds are the most expensive red Burgundies ever released. For certain trophy bottles, it seems that people are willing to pay almost anything. Prices for the 2005s, which they call a 'Monumental Vintage', have skyrocketed since release. "

Please note that our prices have not skyrocketed as most of our wines were bought before the dollar sunk below the horizon. We still have adequate if not excessive stocks of most wines but do suggest not waiting to buy your favorites. These ARE GREAT WINES and they are great from the bottom up. One need not buy a purported "trophy" wine to enjoy 2005 red Burgundy. And one should not shun the excellent, fairly priced, wines from 2002, 2003 as they are delicious and drinkable.

Allen Meadows, Burghound.com writes, "My in bottle tastings of the 2005s has served to reinforce my original belief that the vintage is one of the greatest in the history of modern Burgundy. The best 2005s are simply sublime Burgundies that will be capable of being exceptionally long-lived. Each level of the Burgundian hierarchy transcends its usual quality category and ascends to the one directly above. Which is to say regional wines perform like Villages wines, Villages wines like good if not absolute top 1er crus, good 1er crus are like solid grands crus, and the best grand crus are well, simply unbelievable. Over all, the best wines are truly transcendental and should provide for magical drinking experiences over a period of several decades; the best wines will easily see 50 years in fine shape. 2005 is quite simply the best top to bottom vintage that I have ever seen, period, full stop. It is a brilliant vintage with virtually nothing to dislike. I can also report that many domaines made the best wines that I have ever seen from them. In short, mortgage your house, sell your dog, hock your spouse, or do whatever you have to do but don't miss the best wines of the vintage or you will I believe live to regret it. My advice is to buy up and down the food chain and do NOT avoid purchasing regional and villages level wines." Allen Meadows - Burghound.com

Bruce Sanderson, in the Wine Spectator previously wrote, "The 2005 vintage for red and white Burgundy has everything you could want: ripe fruit, fresh acidity, well integrated tannins and great balance." France's prestigious Revue du Vin de France wrote, "2005, a GREAT FUTURE FOR BURGUNDY! Our tastings confirmed the greatness of this vintage. Generous and dense fruit for the reds, with beautiful substance and very elegant tannins. Beautiful richness and structure is evident in the whites. Our advice: Do not wait to reserve these beautiful wines." "At the risk of throwing another log on an already raging fire, I'd have to say that 2005 is potentially the greatest red Burgundy vintage I've tasted from the barrel, and I've been sampling these wines in depth every year since the 1987 vintage." Stephen Tanzer, International Wine Cellar Issue 131 (April, 2007)