Vintage 2005

This middle year of the noughties delivered many spectacular wines across most of France. Upon release, the 2005 Bordeaux reds drew comparisons to the stellar 1982 and 2000 vintages, with many critics predicting a long, graceful ageing period which contemporary reviews confirm.

In Burgundy, reds from both the Côte de Nuits and the Côte de Beaune were remarkable for their intense fruit and ripe structure. Whites offered impressive richness, concentration and balance, even if the year’s warm conditions occasionally produced over-ripe examples.

Elsewhere in France, from Alsace and Champagne in the north to as far south as the Rhône Valley, 2005 was marked by plentiful sunshine and timely rains in early autumn. These conditions yielded wines with impressive flavour concentration and balance across all styles.

Rioja experienced an excellent year: many of the top 2005 Gran Reservas are now considered classics. Germany was also notable for its many ageworthy 2005 Rieslings. The story in Italy was different: a cool, damp spring, summer drought, and erratic weather closer to harvest produced an uneven crop of wines in Piedmont and Tuscany.

New World wine regions featured several 2005 highlights: Napa produced a bumper crop of healthy grapes and many fine, ageworthy Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines; Australia’s Shiraz heartland of Barossa produced on a wealth of classically powerful, weighty reds; while in South America, Argentina enjoyed one of its best years of the noughties for its signature grape, Malbec.