Chateau Bourgneuf Pomerol Red Bordeaux 2005

Impressive for this estate. Intense aromas of blackberries, cherries, pepper and tar. Full-bodied and very tannic, with a velvety texture and a long, intensely fruity, coffee-flavored aftertaste. Mouth puckering. A big and powerful red. Best after 2002.

Very pretty aromas of blackberry, with hints of Indian spices and licorice, follow through to a full body, with velvety tannins and a fruity aftertaste. Has lots of green olive, dark olive and plum on the finish. Very balanced. Best after 2014.

This wine should be watched carefully after bottling as it could turn out to be an outstanding effort from Bourgneuf. It is a breakthrough wine for this estate. The opaque purple color, intense, old vine richness and inner-core of fruit and glycerin are admirable. Full-bodied, marvelously concentrated and exceptionally ripe, with a late harvest-like note, this huge, massive wine is atypical for this chacirc;teau. Have they really produced something well above the norm? Stay tuned. Anticipated maturity: 2002ndash;2017.

This estate has been producing fine robust, concentrated wines. While they may ultimately lack complexity, the exuberant display of density, muscle and richness are impressive. The 1996 has turned out well, although it is somewhat monolithic. The color is saturated ruby/plum. The wine has an earthy, black cherry, licorice, and dried herb-scented nose, medium to full body, and muscular, concentrated flavors with moderately high tannins. It is a mouth-filling, robust Pomerol to drink between 2000ndash;2012.

Dense ruby/purple, with an attractive, broad, plump nose of plums, raisins, prunes, black cherries, and some dusty earth notes, well-made, medium to full-bodied, with considerable corpulence, flesh, and structure, this is a denser, slightly more tannic wine than the 2001, but big, burly, and showing more finesse than it did prior to bottling. Anticipated maturity: 2007ndash;2018.

A sleeper of the vintage, Bourgneuf's 1995 may be the finest wine I have tasted from this estate. The color is an opaque purple, and the wine offers a closed but promising nose of black cherries, raspberries, and coffee-tinged fruit. Packed and stacked, as they say in the vernacular, this medium to full-bodied, powerful, mouthfilling Pomerol is big, bold, and boisterous. If additional complexity develops in this excellent, decadently rich wine, it will merit an outstanding rating. Anticipated maturity: 2000-2014.