Wine: Château Lassègue 2005 Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé
Origin: Saint-Émilion, Bordeaux

Taste: Vintage 2005 was among the best Bordelais vintages in the last 20 years. This wine epitomizes its force. Nine years on, it isn’t showing a hint of development. It’s belligerently youthful. The wine’s color hasn’t budged, and its drinkability is still a good while away.

Expectation: Some 2005s are settling into a friendlier phase. So, I expected some initial tannin resolution that would help the wine’s structure mesh better with its mid-palate fruit. That’s not what’s happening here…yet.

This wine is a beast of firm tannins paired with bristling acidity backed up by crunchy black fruit. If you’re pulling the cork soon, decant at breakfast!

Hit: Duck Sausage
The gutsy fattiness of duck sausage easily jives with this wine’s bold fruits. This cacophony of flavors melds together while the wine’s tannins spar with the sausage’s generous fattiness, working to keep the palate clean.

Miss: Pork Shoulder with Demi-Glace
The demi-glace is the focus of this dish. I thought that its savoriness would embrace the wine’s minerality while the pork would provide a landing pad for the tannins. The pork shoulder has lots of succulence, but the wine still wiped it out.