- Jane Anson revisited ‘the 21st century’s greatest forgotten vintage’ – Bordeaux 2005.
- Nine wines received 98-points and above, including two 100-points for the First Growths Château Haut-Brion and Mouton Rothschild.
- She suggests that many of the wines are now ‘ready to drink’.
Bordeaux wine critic Jane Anson has published her latest report on what she calls the region’s ‘greatest forgotten vintage’. According to her report, ‘the 2005 vintage was heralded as one of the greatest of the past 50 years, with near perfect weather conditions across the region’. It was ‘perhaps the last of the truly classic, old school years where nothing was pushed too far,’ citing alcohol content on the Left Bank that rarely stood above 13.5%.
Anson wrote that ‘the sign of a great vintage is when you can find successes at all levels, and 2005 proves it again and again’. Seventeen years later she has found just that.
Drinking windows
For a vintage that was famouly tight-knit, verging on austere at times, Anson suggested that many of the wines, particularly from ‘Pomerol, Pessac-Léognan and St Estèphe’ were now ready to drink.
She said: ‘If you bought them at the time, not only are you likely to have a wonderful experience drinking them, but you might have done pretty well financially also – despite the release prices being a record for the time’.
Indeed, all of her top-scoring wines have risen in value since release – some, like the 99-point Château Trotanoy, as much as 310%.
Top-scoring wines
Jane Anson’s top-scoring wines, together with their release and current Market Prices, can be seen in the table below.
Two First Growths, Château Haut-Brion and Château Mouton Rothschild, received perfect 100-point scores. Anson named the former as her ‘First Growth standout’.
Château Montrose, which received 98-points from the critic, was chosen as ‘the one bottle to (still) lay down’. The wine last traded at a record high of £1,780 per 12×75.
Liv-ex members can find out more about the best-performing Bordeaux 2005 wines here.
Montrose 2005 trades on Liv-ex
We are excited to announce that Liv-ex members can now bring Jane Anson’s scores and tasting notes into their system and website automatically via our Critic Reviews API.
Liv-ex analysis is drawn from the world’s most comprehensive database of fine wine prices. The data reflects the real time activity of Liv-ex’s 600 merchant members from across the globe. Together they represent the largest pool of liquidity in the world – currently £80m of bids and offers across 16,000 wines. Independent data, direct from the market.
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