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Haut Bailly 2005

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Pessac-Léognan
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyCabernet Sauvignon/Merlot

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château Haut-Bailly

Label

Tasting Notes

The 2005 Haut-Bailly, is dense purple with loads of graphite, earth, spice, blackberry and blueberry fruit, beautiful balance, medium to full body, and stunning purity, texture and length. Still incredibly young at age 10, this wine is set for 30 or more years of longevity. This is a great, great Haut-Bailly that will one day probably rival 2009 and 2010. Drink 2015-2045.

96+
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (219), June 2015

The 2005 Haut-Bailly has a very well defined nose with intense blackberry and raspberry scents, cedar and hints of peppermint, blossoming in the glass and outclassing the excellent 2004. The palate is very well balanced with firm but pliant tannins, layers of black fruit laced with raspberry coulis, leather, tobacco and sage. A judicious pepperiness comes through towards the structured and focused finish. This is just entering its drinking plateau. Tasted at the Haut-Bailly vertical at the château. Drink: 2021-2045

94
Neal Martin, vinous.com, April 2022
95
James Suckling, WineSpectator.com, February 2008

Cashmere tannins, brooding Cabernet Sauvignon cassis, crayon and gunsmoke character, finely boned and balanced. Hints of leather, cold ash, cassis, pepper, saffron as it settles into itself, all with an architecture that supports the fruit without getting in the way. Effortlessly complex. Harvest September 14 to October 11, 41hl/h yield. This wine has taken its time to reach the beginning of its drinking window, and will develop and deepen further over the next decade, and continue to impress for many decades after that.

97
Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com, September 2022

Dark crimson. Savoury nose and beautifully balanced with nothing out of line. Restrained and not quite unfurled but utterly convincing. Everything is tucked in there. Classic 2005 - very solid and chewy - but with great fruit buried there too. 13%
Drink 2020-2040

17.5
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, February 2015

Good bright medium ruby. Deep aromas of plum, currant, tobacco, mocha and menthol. Superripe and rich but with superb ripe acidity and firm tannins currently keeping the fruit and mineral elements under wraps. Just this side of severe today: here's a 2005 that appears already to have shut down in the bottle. Best today on the back end, where the wine really spreads out horizontally to saturate the palate. I'd give it a good 12 years of aging; it should be very long-lived. Classy, sharply chiseled Haut-Bailly with noteworthy elegance.

92+
Stephen Tanzer, International Wine Cellar, June 2008

Lovely precision of fruit. Vibrant dark fruit notes. Reserved but intense. Clean and fresh with firm, fine tannins. Suave medium-bodied texture. Drink 2013-2030.

18
James Lawther MW, Decanter.com, April 2006

Came 67th out of 184 wines

15.93
-, Southwold Bordeaux Tasting, January 2009
Read more tasting notes...

The 2005 Haut Bailly is rapidly turning into a glorious wine. You instantly fall in love with the purity on the nose, luscious red cherries, wild strawberry and blueberry. This is still youthful and beautifully defined. The palate is medium-bodied with quite a structured opening like many in this vintage. It exerts a gentle grip in the mouth, quite tensile and linear and perhaps just tightening up a tad toward the finish. It is biding its time, but it will repay those who cellar this outstanding 2005 for another four or five years. Tasted March 2017. Drink Date 2022-2050

95
Neal Martin, Wine Advocate, July 2017

The 2005 is really the first true great wine Robert Wilmers and Véronique Sanders crafted after Wilmers' acquisition of the property. A stunningly young wine with notes of subtle barbecue smoke, blackcurrant, lead pencil shavings and very intense flavors, at the same time, the wine is still medium-bodied, elegant, focused and complex. This wine is still an infant, but with extraordinary potential for 50 or more years of evolution.

98
Robert Parker, Hedonists Gazette, November 2014

Haut-Bailly’s American proprietor, Robert Wilmers, backed up by the brilliant Veronique Sanders, continues to go from strength to strength. A fabulous example of this estate, the 2005 is an ethereal, delicate, finesse-styled offering with intensity as well as richness. It has all the concentration one could want, but it comes across as gorgeously elegant and sublime because of its combination of delicacy, power, and depth. Beautiful raspberry, black cherry, currant, graphite, and scorched earth notes are subtle, but provocative. In the mouth, there is good acidity, medium body, ripe tannin, and terrific length. This is a beauty of haute couture from Pessac-Leognan. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2035

95
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (176), April 2008

Kudos to Veronique Sanders, the former proprietor’s granddaughter, and the new American ownership led by Robert Wilmers, for fashioning the finest Haut-Bailly in nearly half a century. While this will never be one of the densest clarets, the 2005 possesses exceptional concentration along with beautiful smoky graphite, raspberry, and black cherry characteristics in its stunning aromatics, a medium-bodied, gloriously concentrated palate profile, good acidity, and sweet tannin. Gorgeous elegance and finesse along with significant concentration and intensity suggest this beauty will be at its finest between 2013-2030+.

93/95
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (170), April 2007

This is the finest Haut-Bailly I have ever tasted, although I suppose the 1900 or 1928 may have possessed similar qualities at the same age. Quintessentially elegant and rich, with surreal lightness and delicacy, it displays an inky/ruby color and beautiful aromas of sweet raspberries, black currants, flowers, graphite, and minerals. Medium-bodied and stunningly concentrated with moderately high but sweet tannin, this modern day legend represents a new reference point for this estate (now American-owned). Anticipated maturity: 2012-2030.

93/95+
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (164), April 2006

The Château Haut-Bailly 2005 has a really quite fabulous bouquet with exuberant red and black fruit: sage, red currants, juniper and warm roof tiles on a summer's day. The palate is medium-bodied with layers and layers of grippy black fruit laced with black truffle and wild mushroom. It is incredibly well balanced with perfect acidity, the structure and backbone on the finish suggesting this will be a very ""long-runner"". Outstanding. Drink 2018 - 2050

95
Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, February 2015

Grgeous blackberry and chocloate aromas with hints of spice. Focused and refined nose. Full-bodied, with ultrafine tannins and a long, long finish. Lovely fruit. This is up there with the 2000.

92/94
James Suckling, WineSpectator.com, March 2006

Exceptionally deep crimson. Hidden but there is clearly so much mass here! But the tannins are surprisingly fine - they make an impression only on the very end of the palate. Very much a wine in waiting. Put it away, please! Great intensity on the very end of the palate but not much aromatic expression yet. Real expression of the place. 2017-2032

(Score: 17++)

17+
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, October 2011

Sappy, savoury, essence of Graves (Pessac-Léognan). Lively mouthful of fresh, not overripe, fruit that spreads seductively across the palate - not especially complex but with good sandy tannins underneath. Very supple and more-ish. Drink me, says this wine. Drink 2013-27

17+
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2006
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.