2005 Clos de Sarpe
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Tasting notes
Along with the 2015, the 2005 Château Clos de Sarpe is, I suspect, one of the finest wines ever made at this address. Still vivid purple-hued, with awesome notes of crème de cassis, jammy blackberries, toasted spices, unsmoked tobacco, and crushed rock-like minerality, this beauty is full-bodied, uber-concentrated, and powerful, yet stays seamless and elegant on the palate. This incredible wine is in the top tier of wines in the vintage. I love it today, yet it will evolve for another 30-40 years.
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Deep garnet-brick in color, the 2005 Clos de Sarpe has an absolute blockbuster nose of liquid licorice, violets, Chinese five spice and chocolate box with nuances of smoked meats, cigar box, cast iron pan and Marmite toast—really incredible intensity! The palate is full-bodied and rich yet with the most incredible freshness, giving very fine, velvety tannins and an incredibly long, very layered finish. Wow!
The 2005 Clos de Sarpe is super-concentrated and rich, but a minor touch of oxidation is disquieting. The color is an opaque purple, while the wine offers up lots of blackberry and blueberry fruit along with some truffle and floral notes. It is massively concentrated and rich, but that slight oxidative note could come back to haunt future owners. It should be forgotten for another 5-7 years, but do monitor it if you own it. Anticipated maturity: unsure. 2020-2035.| eRobertParker.com.June, 2015
About the producer

This small Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classé estate is a FINE+RARE favourite. Run by Maylis Marcenat, the fourth generation of her family to do so, the 3.7-hectare vineyard has old vines and limestone soils, producing wines of incredible freshness and great ageability.