Back-Vintage '05 Bordeaux for Well-Under $50 

2005 Haut-Bergey, Pessac-Léognan ($42.99)

Ryan Moses | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: November 12, 2024

One of the value stars of the first decade of the 2000s, we've adored Haut-Bergey over the years. When we got a chance to revisit their 2005 back in the Spring, it brought smiles to our faces as it has clearly delivered on its early promise and is in such a great place right now. The aromatics are easy to get lost in, with forest floor, currant, cedar, and black cherry. On the palate, it is amazingly bright and focused, with dried cherries, orange peel, a hint of blackberry, and fine grain tannins. A mineral lined finish shows the southern Médoc terroir and carries enough fruit and acidity to keep it refreshing. A powerful yet balanced wine in a perfect drinking window, it's a bit amazing that this Pessac gem can be had for this kind of pricing twenty years on.

91 points Vinous: "Deep medium ruby. Blackberry, violet and a hint of dark chocolate on the nose. Impressively dense and primary, with flavors of blackberry and smoked meat complicated by a suggestion of bonfire. Chewy, dry and classic wine, finishing with substantial building tannins. (ST)" (05/2007)

91 points Wine Spectator: "Aromas of mineral, blackberry and licorice lead to a full body, with lots of racy tannins and a long, flavorful finish. There's plenty of character, with a polished, refined style, yet tannic. (JS)" (03/2008)

90 points John Gilman: " Château Haut-Bergey was one of the most pleasant surprises of the entire 2005 tasting. Michel Rolland had consulted here for some years in the past, but the château owner had decided that he was dissatisfied with the direction of the winemaking under Monsieur Rollands consultancy, and he is happily no longer part of the equation at Haut-Bergey. The result in 2005 is one of the best wines made in the region of Pessac-Léognan that I tasted, and clearly one of the real sleepers to be looked out for in this vintage. The bouquet is deep, pure and classic, as the wine jumps from the glass in a blaze of cherries, red plums, tobacco, a lovely base of Graves soil tones and a judicious framing of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is medium-full, focused and tangy, with lovely intensity of flavor, ripe tannins and good length and grip on the classically shaped finish. The wine is a blend of sixty-five percent cabernet sauvignon and thirty-five percent merlot and was raised in fifty percent new oak in 2005. Despite my comments about malo in barrel in the introduction, this wine has managed to show some fine elements of terroir despite having had its malolactic done in barrel. Lovely wine and a great value." (01/2008)

90 points Wine Advocate: "Charcoal, espresso roast, blackcurrants and spice are all present in this medium-bodied, nicely concentrated, relatively evolved and precocious Haut-Bergey, which is just now attaining its plateau of maturity. Soft tannins and an attractive plushness... (RP)" (06/2015)