2005 Chateau La Tour Haut-Brion, Pessac-Leognan, France 750ml

"The final vintage for La Tour Haut-Brion, but what a way to go! Limpid purple opaque hue. The nose is very tight and sulky, but there is masses of fruit concentration: blackberry, raspberry and well-integrated vanillary oak. Just a hint of dark chocolate developing in the glass. Again, very good balance; firm quite solid tannins, very good delineation and freshness. One of the most backward, broody La Tour Haut-Brion's that I have tasted. Certainly a wine with the structure and weight to suggest long-term cellaring with a tannic finish and a dash of black pepper just to give it a kick. Fabulous: a wine for those who like more cerebral, challenging wines." Neal Martin