White Wines:

Chateau Bouscaut Blanc 2005: This has a powerful, grapefruit, leafy, greengagey purity, with just a little buttercream richness. It has an appealing style, with a touch of fatness, and a rather soft midpalate. It is rounded, with a soft and subtle backbone of acidity. This reflects the warmth of the vintage no doubt, and I would prefer it if it was a little more prominent. Nice minerally depth and finish though. Good style. 15.5/20

Chateau Carbonnieux Blanc 2005: This is a purer style, very slightly honeyed, with a floral and aromatic character on the nose, with notes of vanilla and buttercream alongside the flower petals. Full and fat impact on the palate, with more creamy vanilla character. Soft, rounded, very direct and structured in terms of grip and substance, and overall it has delicious style. It has some acidity, but not in the assertive character of some other recent vintages. 16+/20

Domaine de Chevalier Blanc 2005: This has a very pure and stylish nose, floral, leafy, creamy and quite direct in character. It remains aromatic and floral on the palate, with very bright fruit character, lifted by a very gentle acetone-pear drop character. Sweetly ripe, but vibrant and well defined, with forceful, vigorous acidity which lefts the wine to another level altogether. Beautiful presence. Clearly the most delicious dry white here, head and shoulders above its peers. 18.5+/20

Chateau de Fieuzal Blanc 2005: A mineral nose, with a rich character, lemony and even somewhat reminiscent of lemon curd. Nice, lively style. The palate has an attractive, well defined, rich and creamy presence, with a good mineral streak like the nose. Fleshy, with some green fruit character to cut through the Semillon richness that is also showing a little. It has a better backbone of acidity than some. Overall, a pleasing package. 17+/20

Chateau Larrivet-Haut-Brion Blanc 2005: One of the more unusual wines in the flight - at this stage in its evolution, anyway - is the Larrivet-Haut-Brion. It has a very forthright, perfumed style, with a lot of lemon curd and talc character on the nose, and even more on the palate, which is rather soapy. Fat, blowsy even, with peppery spice through the midpalate. This is extraordinary and tasted blind I would have thought it to be an Alsatian Gewurztraminer rather than a wine from Graves. Having previously seen wacky-tasting wines at the UGC event subsequently come good, I do not think it appropriate to rate this wine in its current state. No score.

Chateau Latour-Martillac Blanc 2005: This has a talcy, minerally, stony nose, although these are nuances mixed with a grassy softness. It does seem a little harder on the palate  though, which has a forceful, rocky character with a firm acid backbone. Nevertheless I feel it has less flesh than the others, and is perhaps not so concentrated as some. Nevertheless it has a good flavour profile, and it has a rather harmonious feel to it. The definition is good, and it may well develop more interest with age. 16.5+/20

Chateau La Louvière Blanc 2005: A very chalky, rocky and interesting nose, with notes of herbs, especially thyme. Full, fleshy, with a fine showing of plump fruit on the palate, ripe but with a citrussy-pithy freshness and a bit of grip. This has an attractive style, and a decent acid backbone and some substance. Good herby finish. 16.5+/20

Chateau Malartic-Lagravière Blanc 2005: Good character on the nose here, with grapefruit and citrus fruit pith laced with minerals, with a creamy background. The palate is full, minerally and fleshy, and is showing quite a lot of substance. There is a rather gentle, peppery acid backbone behind it all, although it is not quite at the level I would like to balance out the flesh of the wine. Good pithy finish though. Very good. 16.5+/20

Chateau Olivier Blanc 2005: This has a rather lemony, powdery, honey-tinged, herby-chalky kind of nose. The palate seems quite direct on entry, with a cool, straight, lemony style, with a little flesh coming behind it in the midpalate in order to pad it out. Underneath is a rather soft acid structure, and here it becomes apparent that the wine is perhaps rather blowsy, and lacking definition. There are better examples of the vintage, to be sure. 15+/20

Chateau Smith-Haut-Lafitte Blanc 2005: There are some beautiful, lively aromatics here, something I have come to expect from Smith-Haut-Lafitte with its renaissance in recent years. It has a ripe exuberance that sings from the glass, more modern and tropical than some of its peers, and sometimes with a rather heady but not perfumed style. On the palate it is perhaps a little flashy, but it has a nice definition, rounded with fair acidity although it does not quite have the zip that I picked up when tasting barrel samples in March 2006. But the ripe, mineral-tinged style is true to form for this property. Very good. 16.5+/20

Red Wines:

Chateau Bouscaut 2005: This is appealing, crisp and crunchy. One the palate it is plump and rounded, with a nice, slightly bitter grip and a gentle, tannic structure. A firm acid backbone. This has quite some appeal, and there is a lot of grip on the finish. Good. 16+/20

Chateau Carbonnieux 2005: There are attractive, black fruit aromas on the nose here, but also a faint lacing of tobacco, something I would not expect to see until the wine is more mature. It has a good concentration of fruit, and a slightly burnt, charcoaly character. The composition is soft and supple to the fore, but behind it there is quite a bit of grip and an attractive, bitter streak. Overall it is unassuming and nicely put together. 16+/20

Chateau Les Carmes Haut-Brion 2005: This has a fine nose, showing some ripe fruit and still marked with nutty oak. There is an awful lot to the palate, starting with a big, structured personality, based on a lot of tannin and fleshy extract. There is a somewhat flashy character to it, but there is a lovely flavour profile on the palate and a rounded, rather pure composition. The balance is perhaps on the edge, but it is a young wine and I do not think it has gone too far. This could be excellent with time. 17.5+/20

Domaine de Chevalier 2005: Exuberant fruit on the nose here, with a nutty edge. The palate follows on nicely from this unassuming start, with a layer of pure, rather crunchy, blackcurrant and cranberry fruit which is very well framed, very precise and complete. The fruit and texture cover very nicely the firm, tannic backbone and the grip of ripe tannins only becomes apparent at the end. This has lovely potential. 18+/20

Chateau de Fieuzal 2005: There are some distinctive and rather unusual elements to the nose here, which has a somewhat feral character, laced with the aroma of orange peel. The palate has a soft and rounded texture, with a ripe and slightly plump style. There is quite a lot of extract and substance beneath this, with fine charcoaly tannins, and a good acid backbone. A surprising, rather light and lifted raspberry and orange flavour. These characteristics are likely to change though. 16.5-17+/20

Chateau Haut-Bailly 2005: A very pure nose, with dark summer fruits and some nutty oak, but finely melded together. The palate has a similarly harmonious style, elegant and yet mouth-filling and broad, but not overly rich or creamy. A firm spine of acid and tannin beneath, nicely covered, and plenty of substance. A fine, nicely composed finish. Great potential here. 18.5+/20

Chateau Larrivet-Haut-Brion 2005: An appealing nose, very smoky and dense, with rose petals and gravel. Very impressive! A nice texture on entry, with good flavour and plenty of dry fruit. It has a very harmonious and supple character. The tannins are ripe and very well hidden. There is a touch of vanilla to it which will fade. Fruit complexity. There is very good potential here! 18+/20

Chateau Latour-Martillac 2005: There is exuberant fruit on the nose, which is vigorous and dense, laden with fruit and concentrated, and spiced with a note of roasted herbs. The palate is rounded, a touch flashy perhaps, but surprisingly reserved in view of the character of the nose. There is a purity to it, and a lot of tannins which give a firm grip, along with a firm acid backbone. This is a big, structured, extracted wine which is just about holding together at present. It could be fine. 16.5-17+/20

Chateau La Louvière 2005: This has a very good Graves typicity, with a dry, minerally, bright, perfumed, appealing style. The palate is similarly styled, rather reserved and structured, with some gravelly, perfumed fruit. There is just a touch of flesh, and overall this is very classic and stylish. Nicely covered tannins, and good acids. Soft, tannin-infused finish. Very nicely done. 17+/20

Chateau Malartic-Lagravière 2005: There is a slightly confected fruit profile on the nose, with a sweetly ripe character tinged with roasted herbs. The palate though is firm, rounded and pure, with a quite seamless style. A gentle tannic backbone becomes apparent through the midpalate, along with a raft of fruit. Nicely balanced out. This has fine style and potential. 17+/20

Chateau Pape-Clément 2005: The nose here is dense and a little reticent, but what character it shows today is dark, dense, meaty and concentrated. Simply lovely style on the palate, pure and seamless yet obviously heavily stuffed. Nevertheless it does have a textured, plush, mouth-filling and perhaps rather soft style which covers the tannins nicely. Broad but well directed. Good grip underneath it all. This has a very impressive style which has great potential. 18.5+/20

Chateau Smith-Haut-Lafitte 2005: A gentle nose, perhaps rather surprising in light of the preceding wines, with a redcurrant character. The palate has a really lovely style, smooth and rather seamless, with the tannins well hidden. Ripe and textured, but firm, with very good grip. This is very nicely composed, and has a good, ripe, grippy finish. Excellent potential again. 17.5+/20