2005 Coufran, Haut-Médoc

Rich and lush fruit with boysenberry, baked black cherries, and cinnamon/nutmeg spices. Lush and eminently drinkable! Offset by light tobacco and earthy flavors. An excellent wine at an excellent price.

Deep dark dried cherries swell to the nose followed by squishy prunes, old leather, dusty wooden furniture, and white pepper spice. In time, gentle pot pourri creeps out and shuffles with dried black berries and dried blueberries. On the palate, this wine has a great texture that ambles across the tongue. Brighter red fruits jump out to meet those darker dried fruit notes that began first on the nose. More savory elements come to dominate and then turn to softly toasted clove and cardamom. This is a Bordeaux that I love to sit and savor, but I love that at this price I don't need to feel bad about quaffing.

My notes in 2011-"This is a very serious wine that has Rutherford Dust-like aromas and plenty of minerals on the nose. It's a big wine on the palate, full-bodied and tannic, but with great underlying fruit. Cellar it a bit or decant two hours." My notes today march 21, 2023: "The nose is developing some bottle bouquet. This wine has been a slow developer, but so have many 2005 Bordeaux reds. Fine upfront fruit on the palate. Some leather and minerals also on the palate. Old school Bordeaux at its value best. Still needs an hour decanting--lots of promise here. Perfect match for a new York steak dinner. 18 years yung and going strong for under $30. Drink or cellar it another ten years."

Nicknamed the "Pomerol of the Medoc" for its high merlot content (85%), the 2005 Coufran is a stellar bottle of aged Bordeaux for a steal. The nose is replete with cherries, red currants, savory earth, leather, cigar box and smoke. I could just sit and nose this wine all night. 2005 was a classic vintage with lots of structure, but time has smoothed away any edges this once had. The fruit is sweet and supple, the tannins silky and polished, the acid subdued and pleasant on the nice finish.

After all these years in retail, one of the many misperceptions by many, many customers that still make me shake my head is how we have a tendency to associate the supposed quality of a wine with its price point. In other words, the higher the price the wine is the better its quality. Recently I had a customer come up to me in the store and ask me what was wrong with this Coufran because of its cheap price, and I confronted him with why he was thinking in those terms. This notion of higher the price vis-à-vis higher the quality level is Wrong! We have been brainwashed (and I won’t get into by who, which is a whole article in and of itself); I have tasted some absolutely awful $150.00+/- Cabernets the last several years that I wouldn’t even spend $10.00 for, wines that are super high in alcohol, have no acid backbone, and, even worse, have residual sugar left in the finish product. This 2005 Coufran is a prime example of a first-class drinking red wine that is not going to cost you this month’s mortgage or rent payment to purchase a single bottle, and is a showcase for the thousands of excellent wines that are still available at better than reasonable prices in today’s market. Merlot-driven, the color of this Gem is medium-deep ruby with a soft pinkish edge to it, while in its wonderful bouquet you will discover developed, distinctive aromas of cassis, currants, blackberries, and plum-like notes with undertones of cedar, leather, and clove-like spiciness. All of this carries over decisively to a broad, well-integrated, balanced, complex set of aged flavors, with a lush, soft, silky mid-range, that leads to a long, generous, elegant finish. Okay; ask me that question again about what’s wrong with this wine because it is so “cheap.” It is time to change your way of thinking! Rusty has demanded that I bring home several cases of this Gem for consumption over the next five to ten years. AN ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE VALUE!!! >>>A K&L WINE MERCHANTS' DIRECT IMPORT<<< ***** 13.5% ABV *****

Chateau Coufran produces excellent drinkable wines for a reasonable price. The 2005 is full bodied and structured with dark fruit flavors balanced out with hints of earth. It is dry and well be best with hearty foods.

Savory and supple textured, this has definitely hit its stride! There’s dry spice, bay leaf, black olive, and cassis flavors here. The fruit shows the low-key character of a mature wine, and has shed the juiciness of its youth. The tannins, while present yet, have calmed down and integrated into the wine, and the finish comes across dry and resinous. This practically screams out for something like herb crusted, rare grilled lamb.

The merlot dominates this wine, but in the best way possible -- it's fleshy, plumey, but balanced by earth and a little old school Bordeaux funk. Get some before it's gone. This will last a solid decade in your cellar.

Deep, firm blackberry and blueberry fruit with good minerality. Direct with very solid structure. Most people will drink wines in this price range young, but this 2005 will age fantastically, so put a few down for the long run. I would decant four hours before drinking now.

Coufran is north of St-Estèphe, where heavier soils are wellsuited to merlot. The château is planted with 85% merlot and 15% cabernet sauvignon.With a bit of decanting this wine really opened up and with each sip I enjoyed it even more. Very dark in color, the nose provides both rich fruit and some oak. It opens with a mix of rich cassis and nice acidity, but its tannins are still astringent. Give this beauty some time to age.