2005 CHÂTEAU ROL VALENTIN Grand Cru Saint Emilion

Huge points from Robert Parker and the Wine Spectator, but good notes from everyone else too. Up a lot on last year, but on the other hand he came down a lot in 2004, so this is less outrageous than it might seem, and this is a really good wine - and well below the price of the 2000 - recommended

Bright medium ruby. Pure, penetrating aromas of blackberry, minerals, graphite and flowers. Wonderfully sweet but sharply delineated and light on its feet. The black fruit flavors have an almost grapey primary character today. But this is aromatic, sappy and downright sexy. Finishes very long and perfumed, with terrific energy. Sweet but not sugary.   90-93/100

Deep, bright ruby. Highly aromatic nose offers liqueur-like notes of blackberry, violet, licorice and spices. Fat, sweet and dense; fleshy and very ripe, but with excellent supporting structure. Very broad, large-scaled wine with sexy flavors of black raspberry, minerals and bitter chocolate. Strong and fresh on the back end, finishing with building tannins and noteworthy grip. This will evolve slowly in bottle and last well. Prissette included 75% of his press wine, and noted that the final blend is 92% merlot, the rest cabernet franc and sauvignon. (May/June 2007)   91-93/100

Currant and blackberry aromas follow through to a full-bodied palate, with fine tannins and a fresh finish. Lovely fruit and class in this. Always impressive in serious vintages. Sweet and seductive. Best ever.   95-100/100

Mid crimson. Pretty inexpressive on the nose. Sweet start and then chewy. Quite brutal at this stage. Very marked acidity which gives the wine its framework and then one waits for the fruit to fill in the hole. Dramatic but terribly youthful. Very dry and tight. Ready to taste even? This is a wine made by Derenoncourt whose malos have been notoriously late this year. 2015-25   16.5

Wonderful aroma of ripe (but not ultra-ripe) grapes, great body, noble tannins: the best wine ever made by this Château and the result of intelligent work. Up there with some classified first growths.   ****/18

Former rugby player Eric Prissette continues to demonstrate a sure touch with his small plots planted in different sections of St.-Emilion. Yields in 2005 were a tiny 27 hectoliters per hectare, and the blend was 97% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Winemaking consultant Stephane Derenoncourt has fashioned an elegant, but powerful, dense blue/purple-colored 2005 revealing a sweet nose of blue and black fruits intermixed with notions of crushed rocks, subtle oak, creme de cassis, and blueberries. Full-bodied, with moderately high tannin, good acidity, and superb definition as well as length, it should be at its peak between 2011-2024.   92-94/100