All the producers agree: 2005 is a great vintage. Everywhere, the grapes were picked at perfect maturity which allowed to obtain wines with rich fruit, but everyone underlines also the great balance in the wines because of their nice acidity and ripe tannins.

Champagne
The year in which his son Gabriel was born is also a brilliant vintage for Benoît Tarlant. In his eyes the chardonnay was the star of the vintage, it has ripe fruit and a very good persistence and acidity. The pinot noir is remarkable for its good structure, especially the wines coming from the old vines they picked at the end. On the other hand, the bunches of the pinot meunier were very heavy, the wines are fruity but have a lighter structure. Anyway we can expect outstanding special cuvées!

A peculiarity in 2005 was the the presence of huge numbers of ladybirds in the vineyards of Champagne …

Alsace
Etienne Stentz observes that the summer was not particularly hot, that's why the grapes could ripen gradually, not too fast as was the case in 2003. September was very sunny and the picking took place in excellent conditions; there was just one day of rain which made the riesling in the plain swell (it will make a good base for the crémant) and forced to accelerate the picking of the pinot gris.
The yield is 10% lower than in a normal year, and mainly the gewürztraminer, the tokay pinot gris and the pinot blanc are of superb quality. The wines have a nice concentration and are very balanced, there is enough acidity and no residual sugar; the acidity is very ripe and not aggressive. Thanks to the beautiful autumn the late harvested wines are superb (they even produced "grains nobles").

Jura
Lothain Grand and his son Emmanuel underline that 2005 is a great vintage. The grapes were very sound, mainly due to the perfect weather in September (there was only half a day of rain during the harvest). In general the yields are rather low (and on the red wines they had done green harvest …): the wines have a very good concentration but also a perfect acidity, they are very well balanced and not so heavy as in 2003.

The Grand family

Loire
A nice summer with just enough rainfall caused a homogeneous maturing of the grapes, followed by harvest in almost ideal conditions. The wines have beautiful fruit and good acidity, the red wines have soft and ripe tannins. We experienced this while tasting the wines of Domaine du Roncée (Chinon), Domaine de la Noiraie (Bourgueil), Domaine de la Loge (Muscadet), and those of Philippe Cady (Coteaux-du-Layon), Edmond Figeat (Pouilly-Fumé) and Claude Riffault (Sancerre).

Côtes-du-Rhône
At Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe (Châteauneuf-du-Pape) even the very quiet Daniel Brunier seems enthusiastic. Here, after a rather wet spring, the summer was very nice, quite normal for the region but by far not so dry as in 2003. The ripening of the grapes was perfect but much slower than in 2003 or 2004. The picking of the perfectly sound grapes started on September 13th: the yield was average (31 hl/ha) but the quality superb. No problems during the vinification, with a rapid colour extraction and a rather long "cuvaison" (28 to 30 days) which was necessary to obtain refinement and balance in the tannic structure. The white wines have freshness, volume and very delicate fruity aromas, and the result will be superb for the reds: they have a beautiful colour, the fruit is very fresh, deep and concentrated fruit, an exceptional structure in the mouth and great, noble tannins. Daniel Brunier is convinced that this will be an outstanding vintage, one of the best of the last 20 years, a summit like 1998!

Languedoc
After the dry spring and summer the rainfall in the beginning of September had more positive than negative effects; at Domaines Paul Mas, only the chardonnay of the region of Limoux had to be picked in a hurry. A major improvement in 2005 has been the follow up and maturity control of the grapes with the use of infra red systems (for sugar, acidity and polyphenols), in order to decide about the best moment of picking. All the wines have a great fruit concentration doubled by a good acidity.

Sud-Ouest
At Château Lamartine (AOC Cahors), Alain Gayraud is clearly enthusiastic: 2005 is a fabulous vintage, the best he ever made. This vintage is certainly exceptional due to the high average quality, and Alain will make relatively more Cuvée Particulière and Expression. The yield was 48 hl/ha, about 10% lower than on average. During a complete month (from the end of August until the end of September) the weather was ideal with hot days and cool nights, so the grapes could mature gradually. The wines are very fresh and have a lot of "sucrosité", they have very tasty, nearly sweet tannins.