The Annual Red Bordeaux Report

The good news is that 2005 has produced a larger number of successful wines—reds, dry whites and sweet whites—than ever before, as well as a substantial number of wines that are likely to be cellar classics. In a nutshell, 2005 was a drought year without extreme heat: a very warm and dry summer with cool nights that helped the grapes maintain sound levels of acidity. Although rainfall totals for the 12 months ending in October of 2005 were down a sharp 40% to 60% from the long-term average depending on the sector, the effect of drought on the vines was far less destructive than it had been in 2003, when the combination of searing heat and very dry conditions resulted in widespread shutdown of the vines. Because the 2005 growing season had been dry from the outset—actually far drier than normal dating back to 2003—the vines had had time to adapt to these conditions, in many instances by sending their roots deeper in search of more humid soil. As I made my rounds in April, I got the impression that many of the château personnel I tasted with felt that they would never again witness growing conditions so nearly perfect. As Christian Moueix summarized: "I've had two easy vintages in terms of weather in 36 years: 1982 and 2005. You got the feeling this year that nothing wrong could happen."

Over and over, using slight variations on the same theme, château proprietors, maîtres de chai and consulting winemakers told me that they have never before experienced a vintage that offered this combination of thorough ripeness (alcohol levels in the wines often reach record levels) and vibrancy of flavors and aromas. The 2005 vintage appears to have produced outstanding red wines in all major appellations, as well as superb dry whites and sweet whites, although in April it was awfully early to be reaching conclusions on the latter category. The red wines are concentrated, tannic and fresh, with plenty of aromatic complexity. Depending on the sector, total rainfall during the growing season of 2005 was one-half to two-thirds less than that of a normal year, and precipitation totals were down significantly from the average in every month but April, when rainfall was slightly above average. Although the sun reigned supreme in 2005, overall temperatures were just a bit higher than normal through the growing season, and almost exactly average during the months of August and September.

The 2005 growing season. A dry, cold winter resulted in a late budbreak, despite a warm spell in late March. The budding took place mostly in the first half of April, and was stretched out by some rain, thus putting the growth of the vines even farther behind the recent average. But very warm weather during the last few days of April and early May jump-started growth of the vine vegetation and the appearance of the first grape bunches. There were actually a greater number of bunches than normal, as the vines were continuing to snap back from short crops of 2002 and 2003, but the individual berries were small. May continued warm and dry, and a heatwave at the end of the month triggered a quick flowering that was finished in the first third of June. Some coulure and millerandage, especially in the merlot, resulted in the loss of some grapes, and with looser clusters and fewer grapes, later crop-thinning work became less important. The dry June eventually finished with near-record average temperatures but the vines remained green and healthy.

July stayed very warm and very dry, but without the temperature extremes that the locals had feared. St. Emilion had some rain—and even a bit of hail—on July 2, and the Northern Médoc got a soaking rain on the 28th. Following the late July rain, the veraison took place quickly and was finished by the middle of August. The right bank and Graves region had significant rainfall on August 17, and then the Médoc received some much-needed light rain on the 25th. But although the local rivers were at lower levels than they had been even in previous drought years like 1976 and 1947, the vines never really shut down; as a rule, only younger vines on lighter, sandy soils showed clear signs of hydric stress. All through August, cool nights helped the grapes retain acidity.

Haut-Brion picked some sauvignon blanc as early as August 24, and most of the dry white grapes came in during the first half of September. Some showers fell on the night of August 31, and some additional rainfall occurred between September 8 and 13. There were a few drops of rain on the 16th and some scattered storms on Sunday, the 25th, but none of the serious rains that so often occur around the time of the autumnal equinox. Although 2005 was an extremely dry year overall, the little rain that fell tended to come exactly at the right times, with the periods of moderate precipitation in September providing the final nudge to finish the ripening of both the merlot and the cabernets.