2005 and 2012 Haut Bergey: Let me tell you a little secret..

[JimHow]

First of all, let me tell you something: 2012 Haut Bergey is a nice little wine. Don't age it. Just drink it, for crying out loud.
2005 Haut Bergey: I'm sure there will be like 100% disagreement with me here, but nonetheless: This wine was better in its infancy. 2005 Haut Bergey has shown no improvement over the past decade.
Conclusion: Just drink this wine young. Don't dick around. Don't try to rationalize with yourself that this wine is gonna get better after 6, 12, 15, or 20 years.
Just drink it in its youth and enjoy it. Don't intellectualize it.
It doesn't get significantly better with age.
Drink your Haut Bergey, like most Bordeaux, younger rather than older.
You'll generally enjoy this wine two years after vintage more than you will 12 years after vintage.
And that's not a sleight. At $22 per bottle, this wine is a deal.

[DavidG]

I know you'll be shocked to hear this, but my 2005 Haut Bergey is already gone.
Working on the 2009s and 2010s.

[JimHow]

Well done my subject.

[stefan]

The 2005 Haut Bergey is still good (we drank a bottle last night with cheese soufflé), but for my taste not better than when it was younger and fruitier. It does not show signs that it will develop into a complex and interesting old wine in, say, ten years, so I don't see the point in holding it. On the other hand, I am not in a hurry to finish the rest of our second case as there is no indication that the wine will decline any time soon.

[Blanquito]

I have lots of the 05 Haut Bergey and Barde Haut. I will follow the leader and open one of each soon.

[JimHow]

for my taste not better than when it was younger and fruitier. It does not show signs that it will develop into a complex and interesting old wine in, say, ten years, so I don't see the point in holding it.

Exactly my experience with the 2005 Haut Bergey.

The 2005 Barde Haut on the other hand has developed this lovely cocoa thing going on….

These wines are meant to be drunk young.

[AKR]

Barde Haut keeps well though. I still have not finished my 99s and they continue to be lovely.

Its difficult for me to figure out when (or even if) they might have peaked.

Supposedly there is some theory of how light refracts through the wine that can determine maturity, or at least what can keep, but I don't know if it can tell when aromatic complexity is highest.

The Catenas in Argentina are using this method to test various vineyard sites.

[DavidG]

The 2005 Haut Bergey is still good... but for my taste not better than when it was younger and fruitier. It does not show signs that it will develop into a complex and interesting old wine in, say, ten years, so I don't see the point in holding it. On the other hand, I am not in a hurry to finish the rest of our second case as there is no indication that the wine will decline any time soon.

+2 - same experience here, which is why mine are gone.

[Blanquito]

So I drank a 2005 Haut Bergey a couple nights ago. Overall, it was good. One thing though-- the last glass was definitely the best. Whatever that means for its future.

[robert goulet]

Drank the 2012 haut bergey earlier this week....this was a wine I panned because I thought they were going off the rails with oak and high alcohol. I was pleasantly surprised when the label revealed 12.5% alcohol!!!!

Not a big wine by any means....soft flavors but well balanced and it shares the Pessac typicity....@ $25 here....will be a repurchase for Goulet

[JimHow]

Well done, RG, well done.
You are right, at $25, it's a nice deal.
It has some nice Pessac typicity.
I was gonna buy more from MacArthur's at $22+ but they sold out.