2005 Lascombes, Margaux

SKU #1035723 95 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

A gorgeous example of Lascombes, the 2005, a blend of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot, continues the remarkable turn-around in quality that began five years ago. A stunningly opulent wine with a dense purple color, the 2005 possesses a beautiful perfume of spring flowers, blueberries, blackberries, creosote, and graphite, full body, silky but noticeable tannins, a layered mouthfeel, and a stunning, 45+-second finish. This is a brilliant, modern-styled Margaux that should age for 30-35 years. (RP) (4/2008)

94 points Wine & Spirits

A joyous Lascombes, this is the first vintage to hit stride since the US investment firm Colony Capital took over in 2001. It's a meaty wine draped in fragrant tannin, built for long aging. It's also an exuberant wine, in both the bright, red currant-scented fruit and the bristle of the tannin. A playfully complex flavor lasts for minutes, the wine still youthful and fresh four days after it was opened. Margaux chic. (3/2008)

93 points Connoisseurs Guide

This well-filled, impeccably balanced wine starts with aromas of cherries, sweet berries, tobacco leaves, rose petals, vanilla bean oak and black walnuts. Its lushness is more reminiscent of what we are finding from the St. Juliens (reviewed below) than of the Margaux set, and in that regard, Lascombes comes up a bigtime success in this vintage. Its flavors have a 'drink me now' quality but its underlying tannins speak to its ability to age, and there is every reason to expect more than a decade of growth. (3/2008)

93 points Wine Spectator

Dark in color, with an impressive nose of licorice, toasty oak, chocolate and blackberry. Full-bodied, with silky tannins and a long, caressing finish. Very pretty and structured. (JS) (3/2008)

89-92 points Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

Good bright ruby. Blueberry and licorice on the nose, lifted by spicy oak. Chewy, lush and dense, but with a sappy quality giving shape to the fruit. Very tactile, solid wine with a saline quality suggesting energetic extraction. But this offers impressive mouth coverage and finishes broad and long, with nicely restrained sweetness. Wait until 2011. (5/2006)

91 points Wine Enthusiast

Lascombes is approaching the form its status as a second growth suggests. This wine is close, packed with dark fruits, figs and juicy black currant extract. The aftertaste has some bitterness, with layers of toast and spice coming through strongly. (RV) (6/2008)