Wine Spectator
Really dense and locked up now, this is packed with dark fig, currant and blackberry fruit shrouded by layers of tar, hot stone, bittersweet licorice and espresso. The long, dense finish has a great tug of iron buried within it. Best from 2011 through 2030.
Anthony Dias Blue
Deep, dark and rich-a definitive Chateauneuf; powerful and concentrated with blackberry, cherry, earth and spice; complex, aromatic and needing a year or two to smooth out.
Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate
The 2005 Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape is a wine that probably needs 7-10 years of bottle age. Possibly the most backward and closed Beaucastel made since the 1995, the wine has very high tannins, seems totally closed aromatically, but in the mouth is a weighty wine exhibiting a dense ruby/purple color and tight aromatics consisting of new saddle leather, porcini, meat juices, licorice, tar, and black fruits. The wine is full-bodied, powerful, very tannic, and structured in a dramatically masculine, ageworthy style. This is one for the younger generation or those with considerable patience. I cant see it being close to drinkable before 2014 and lasting up to 30 or more years.
Stephen Tanzer's IWC
Ruby-red. Blackberry and cassis on the nose, with a complex set of earth, herb and floral qualities adding complexity. Deep and sweet, with bitter cherry and candied licorice flavors and youthfully firm tannins but no hardness. Turns more lively on the finish, picking up a spicy red berry character and leaving a long, pungent herbal trail behind. This needs time. "It's the opposite of a bimbo wine," Perrin offered.
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