Desmirail and Siran - Margaux - 2005

At last, signs that the 05s may be coming out to play - not before time! I tried these two together out of curiosity since they cost the same at release (22€). Both were decanted for four hours, which in fact was not nearly enough - and they were much better the second night.

Château Siran - Margaux - 2005

Quite a floral nose, with herbs and spices in the background. The attack had reasonably strong notes of red cherry, then the blackberry took over, followed initially by a very rich, rising seam of citrus fruits, slightly bitter. The tannins were still very present at first, albeit more in the background than a few years ago, but giving the wine a certain asperity which made it hard work on the first night.

By the second night, this had all changed for the better - the tannins had gone, along with the rather curious seam of citrus fruits that I have found in a lot of Bordeaux 2005s, to be replaced by some much more classic notes of dusty blackcurrant, giving the wine much better balance and Margaux typicity.

Ultimately, it was a mixed experience - quite promising, but it was overshadowed by the second wine:

Château Desmirail - Margaux - 2005

Another floral nose, but more intense, with clearer notes of blackberry and cedar. On the first night, much the same impressions as the Siran, with the same annoying citrus fruit seam, but on the second, a lot better: the attack had darker cherries at first than the Siran, but especially, a deeper and richer seam of blackcurrant, the blackberry was more clearly defined and the finish was longer, without losing any charm or elegance. Really quite enjoyable, unlike the bottle I had opened in April.

What I learnt from this is that long decanting is still necessary - these were two or three years from full maturity - but that at last, these wines are beginning to come good. The whiplash tannins are fading, but the rich and rather odd seam of citrus fruits needs a long decant to prevent it from obscuring the “normal” fruit in the background. But there is fruit there, which is a relief.

So overall, really quite encouraging.

Deleted.

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Cheers Steen - the citrus notes are weird, I agree - I’ve encountered them several times now, the last of which was the Pedesclaux 05 I had a few weeks ago. It seems to be a characteristic of the vintage, but which I think will disappear with time, as the decanting showed.

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I had a 2005 left banker of similar price the other day — Larrivet Haut Brion. And it was a good showing for the wine. Pretty classical, maybe just getting near the beginning of its best years.

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I had an 05 Rauzan Gassies a year ago or so which was still pretty manly, despite a few hours in a decanter. I do like Margaux from that year though!

http://www.bordeauxwineenthusiasts.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=8753

I have a Pedesclaux standing up for consumption in the near future. Recently the Chasse Spleen was slightly pruny, I took it as overripe which was rather a disappointment having hung on to it since purchasing EP.

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