Simon Field | Apparently gentler color, but soon belied by the legs and the tears in the glass, and then by the somewhat foursquare aromas of intervention and aspiration. The undoubted quality is too submissive, and any playful sense of joyful indulgence, which should be the calling card of this appellation, is immediately and probably inevitably compromised. | 89

Andrew Jefford | Pale, bright lemon-gold. Softly doughy, with a quiet honeysuckle charm, too. Very pretty, if a less insistent wine than some of its peers. The floral notes here take a lot of scrutiny: rose, lily, and violet, as well as honeysuckle. On the palate, and after the wholly head-turning [Les Vins de Vienne Cuilleron/Villard/Gaillard Condrieu Lieu-Dit Jeanraude 2016], it seems just a little abrupt and edgy, with an acid underscoring that the aromatics didn’t suggest was coming. (Condrieu is always full of surprises.) It’s hugely impressive nonetheless, and once again a fine choice for those who wish to avoid the most Wagnerian encounters of the tasting.| 89

John Livingstone-Learmonth | fine yellow color. Elderberry, a refined bouquet that floats rather gracefully, has a nudge of vanilla, peanut. It’s a little on the back foot, in transition. The palate is mild, easy to drink, a little mainstream. There’s a flavor of pear, but the late stages are toned down. The nose is showing more style than the palate at present. It drinks soundly, and won’t disappear rapidly, so try from spring 2019. 2021. | 88