Chateau Angélus 2005: An impressive depth apparent on the nose here, with purely defined, vibrant although rather dense and gamey-meaty fruit. Rather dark, quite spicy, with a touch of balsamic, rich but curranty style. The palate has a huge but rather softly defined presence, with a slowly building wall of tannin which comes to dominate the midpalate, over a layer of ripe, finely fleshy fruit. Huge and prodigious in terms of its structure. Great substance. There is undoubtedly great potential here, although in its currently youthful state it does seem a little loose-knit. 18.5+/20

Chateau Barde-Haut 2005: The usual super-baked damson fruit here, with notes of balsamic and game. The palate seems qute light considering this full-on style on the nose, with a wall of ripe tannins hiding rather ineffectually beneath the fruit. The palate bears the same overbearing characteristics as the nose. I find this over-worked for my palate. 15+/20

Chateau Beau-Séjour-Bécot 2005: Rather appealing although very dark style of fruit, but importantly it has freshness and perfume alongside what is undeniably a very meaty depth of fine fruit. The palate seems a little soft at first but it has some very admirable fruit, with a good depth of flavour with only a faint, gamey quality to it. Lots of tannins, a touch hard, firm acidity, lots of good components here. This should come very good with appropriate time in the cellar. 17-17.5+/20

Chateau Beauséjour 2005: A sweet blackberry and vanilla nose to this wine, with plenty of creamy fruit on the palate and gentle tannins behind it too. Quite full, although there is a charcoaly quality to it and also a very savoury, meaty, stocky layer of fruit over the top. Good firm acids though. This is an admirable effort which has very good potential for the future. A firm finish 17+/20

Chateau Bellevue 2005: A rather appealing, purely defined presence of fruit on the nose here, linear and compact, but intense, sweet and creamy too. The palate follows on in the same vein, with nicely refined fruit, creamy but not overdone texture and an elegantly composed although rather fleshy wine. This has some grippy, ripe tannins, and these sit well beneath the fruit today, although they certainly are very big and firm. Very good style which should do very well in the cellar. 18+/20

Chateau Cheval Blanc 2005: A fine nose here, quite vibrant and aromatic, a touch chalky, with pure red fruit character, elegant with cranberry and redcurrant characteristics. There is a gentle smokiness to it but it has a very restrained application of oak, and there are quiet nuances of liquorice and crunchy tar. Beautiful purity on the palate, very well defined and elegantly complete, balanced and light-footed, although with appropriate substance and a core of well judged tannins. Not a prodigious wine, but it has lift, vigour and definition on its side. It is very true to the Cheval Blanc style based on my tastings of older vintages, and this will be absolutely fine in 10-20 years time. 19.5+/20

Chateau Dassault 2005: Dark and sweet fruit here, rather confected at the edge, with a cola-like quality to it. A little herbal too. It starts off quite cool on the palate, broadening out and fattening up a little, but always displaying a shell of fruit rather than a fuller substance. Plenty of good tannin, and the fruit character is appealing, with a very dark, style. It has a little balsamic edge to it as well. There are certainly some good characteristics here, but some elements do detract. 16+/20

Chateau Grand Mayne 2005: Sweet and dark fruit on the nose, very slightly feral and gamey. A nice substance maintained throughout on the palate, with a seam of very ripe tannins beneath. Dark and quite substantial, but well framed by acid, coolly structured and overall quite appealing. There is good potential and perhaps even some value here I think. 17+/20

Chateau Larcis Ducasse 2005: Beautifully vibrant on the nose at first, although underneath there is also a current of raisined fruit, balsamic, liquorice, black bean and soy. A little gentle at the start, before the cream and extraction flows into the midpalate. There is still a huge amount of structure evident here, with masses of tannin, firm acidity and huge meaty-fruit flavour. Dark, brooding, but not fleshy or overly fat. With time this may all come together, but these tannins will need an awful long time to integrate, and the flavour profile won't appeal to all. 17-17.5+/20

Chateau Pavie-Macquin 2005: Like the Larcis Ducasse the immediate perfume of the nose gives way to dark curranty fruits, soy sauce and a very feral, gamey style of fruit. There are elements of it that appeal, and some that are less attractive. Pure in substance at the start, with a more chalky granularity to the texture coming through later, in the midpalate. Lots of backbone here, rather hard and firm, with a more gentle application of flesh and fruit on top. There are attractive suggestions of elegance in the composition here, and I wonder if this will move more in this direction with time. Overall I think I like it, certainly more so than on previous tastes, although it will need many years in order to come completely around. 16.5-17.5+/20

Chateau Clinet 2005: Lovely quality here, all blood and iron and very classic Pomerol spice. This has the very suggestion of elegance, and although the palate shows a little soft and loose-knit today without doubt this is a very well composed and elegant wine of considerable potential. It has good freshness in the mouth which many other right-bankers don't have, and it has a perfumed, liquorice-tinged and gravelly perfume. I find this very appealing and I am sure it will drink well after a sensible length of time in the cellar. 18+/20

Chateau Gazin 2005: Beautiful Pomerol character on the nose, darkly spiced fruit, spicy oak too, dark but sweet and open and welcoming rather than brooding. The palate is creamy at the start, then through the middle more restrained, but it always has a very well-judged substance which covers the ripe but rather forceful core of tannins. Very punchy acidity too. This is really excellent and has plenty of classic style imbued with the richness of the vintage. 18+/20

Chateau La Conseillante 2005: Rather a perfumed and even slightly confected character on the nose here, with a tinge of cola alongside the restrained dark fruit aromatics. Not domineering though, and there is an attractive smoky substance to it as well. The palate also shows a little strangely today, a little unfocused and loose knit, although there is plenty of substance here. A little fat, certainly creamy, with some central grip. I know I have rated this highly in the past, and so this seems very strange. Nevertheless, I can only mark this wine as I see it today, although I must stress that it can not be a conclusive judgement based on this rather unusual showing. 16-17+?/20

Petrus 2005: A very solid style on the nose here, dark and concentrated, still showing some primary Merlot character. There is purity to it though, although also a lifted and subtly volatile element, with nuances of balsamic. Intense cherry fruit, cranberry too, with roasted herbs. This all belies a rich, substantial, defined and powerfully tannic palate which has a structure that clearly demands the long haul. Very broad, lightly polished, quite fleshy although nicely styled. There is a prodigious layer of tannin here, which has a massive although velvety feel to it, swimming beneath primary fruit character. Long, tannic, balanced and well defined this is a monumental effort destined to slumber in the cellar for a very long time. 19.5+/20

Chateau Providence 2005: Dark, meaty, savoury, beef-stocky fruit character here on the nose. But there is also a delightful lift which has the character of Cabernet Franc (which accounts for 10% of the vineyard), in that it gives a perfumed, violet-tinged, crunchy fruit element. Overall it has a meaty style and it certainly has appeal, even though there are little tinges of balsamic as well. A fairly supple palate despite the flux of complexity and meat seen on the nose, quite gently composed, elegant, but at the core rather firm tannins which will keep this wine going nicely. An elegant but structured style of Pomerol.17.5+/20

Chateau Trotanoy 2005: Dark, pure and defined fruit on the nose, cleaner than some other wines, purer and certainly appealing, with aromatic wood spice. On the palate a very structured and upright style of Pomerol, with tightly packed and rather polished fruit, and a mildly stony, reserved texture. There is good substance here though, and overall a balanced and direct rather than overly-fleshy or generous style. This will make good drinking in 10 years, or maybe even longer than that. 17.5+/20

Clos Rene 2005: A rather smoky nose here, and fruit with a slightly cooked feel to it, alongside a little beetroot. The palate shows a rather broad, shell-like quality, a very firm and slightly feral character, without much fruit to bolster the structure at present. Very hard and ungiving in style. There is substance here, but not the generosity to match. 15.5-16+?/20