Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

2005 La Vieille Cure
PnP. This smells good from the word go, but primary. Ripe and grapey but with lots of graphite and cedar and a signature herbal note. The palate is still really firm, almost hard, and the flavors and textures are all fleshy, tarry tannins. Gets tighter with air. Beneath all the structure, there's a good core of fruit. This has relaxed since release when it was tough as nails, but wow this still needs time. Seems very promising though.

How long do you think this estate can generally age?

AKR wrote:How long do you think this estate can generally age?

Good question, Arv. I had the 2001 of this a few years ago at a restaurant and it showed very nicely. Personally, I bet the 2005 goes another 10 years, perhaps peaking in 5 years. I have a few bottles of the 2003 remaining too, which are lovely, restrained and showing no signs of cracking up.

I froze the second half of the bottle of the 2005 (to preserve it) and thawed it yesterday. It really opened up and soften after this treatment, it actually came across like a classy Cali cab with a plush mouthfeel, some minty notes but with the seriousness too, like the Dunn Napa bottling. Still going strong. Impressive QPR.