2005 Ch Caronne-Ste-Gemme, Haut-Medoc

I've had a couple of these in the cellar for a few months, having picked them up at auction for £15 each. I thought that was a good price for a 2005 Bordeaux from a "go-ahead estate". This is especially true since I've tried the 2002 and 2007, with less bottle age at the time of drinking, and i paid about the same for those. They both struck me as okay, but nothing too special, if my memory serves me correctly!

I sampled this at the weekend after a BBQ with friends. I decanted it before we left, which gave it about 4-5 hours of air by the time i got home to drink it. I was quite keen to get in to this wine because other 2005's I've had I've rather enjoyed. The 2005 Ch Artigues-Arnaud (2nd wine of Ch Grand-Puy-Ducasse) was a particularly lovely and elegant example.

I took notes at the weekend, here's hoping i do the wine justice a few days later! In the glass the CsG was dark, thick and a concentrated purple. A slight red edge suggested a bit of bottle age. This wine was rich and powerful on the nose, potentially because it was very warm, due to the current weather. I think it may have been well over 20 degrees, but still lovely! On the nose there was definate dark fruit, cherries, cassis and plums, although slightly jammy and stewed. It hinted at vanilla, liquorice, mint and tobacco also.

The palate was immediately full of concentrated fruit, probably the product of a strong vintage. It was suprisingly jammy and chewy, and had more of the same as the nose. Dark fruits, black cherries and currents, and was quite powerful rather than elegant. The finish had a nice amount of pepper to it, but was quite short to medium.

Overall this seems to be well made, well structured and well balanced. It has a Good mix of fruit, acidity and tannins. The alcohol wasn't too bad considering the tempature. At the moment the tannins seemed hard, which suggests at a bit more aging, which should hopefully soften it and add to the complexity. I have another one, so we'll see how it fairs with time. I don't think this was as good as the 2005 Artigues-Arnaud, but certainly a reasonable quality:price ratio. I'd say it was similar to the 2008 potensac i had recently, but a bit fuller and more punchy.