91/100
Hecht & Bannier’s 2005 Faugeres is a great tribute not just to its outstanding terroir, but to the skill with which the down-sides of this vintage have been overcome to present a wine of palpable density but remarkably refined tannins and fresh fruit. That said, this is more than anything else about mineral and carnal characteristics, and if you don’t imagine a suffusion of crushed stone or fresh blood in your glass of red wine here, then you probably never will. Salted meet juices join the bitter-sweet black raspberry and cassis, along with pungent hints of marjoram and black pepper in the long finish of a wine that should cellar well for at least another 4-5 years. US$35
