Tasting Notes: This is a wine for readers with incredibly long life-expectancies as it possesses the power and longevity associated with many pre-phylloxera, 19th century wines of Bordeaux. Like so many of the small St.-Emilion estates, there are no compromises at Clos de Sarpe. The 2005 was hand-harvested from yields of 25 hectoliters per hectare, given a 55-day maceration, and aged in a combination of new wood. It will be bottled unfiltered. The wine achieved 14+% alcohol naturally. This opaque purple-colored, massive, ferociously tannic offering reveals scary concentration levels, huge dry extract, and technical numbers that are off the charts. Despite its impressive credentials, size, richness, and overall balance, it will close down after bottling, and re-emerge 10-15 years later. My conservative guess is that this gigantic, colossal St.-Emilion will be drinkable around 2015-2020, and last for 40-50 years.