Simon Field | Straw color and a ripe nose, with verbena and hints of marzipan. The palate adds nougat and pineapple—all in all, powerful and quite alcoholic, but its potency is not necessarily mirrored by potential. | 83

Andrew Jefford | Pale old gold. This wine has a lovely toasted almond richness to its aromas, though no wild flowers or fruit blossoms. On the palate, too, it is quietly impressive: long, succulent, sumptuous, close-textured, and lush, with armfuls more of that almondy richness. There is some acidity, some vanilla, some marrow: a truly super glass of white Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and a wine that really couldn’t come from anywhere else (and which must surely come from very good vineyards). Outstanding. | 92

John Livingstone-Learmonth | Yellow, lustrous robe. Roasted nuts, apricot skin airs lead the nose, a murmur of white peach. The palate holds a stewed-fruits content, with a glazed nature, a relative sweetness apparent. It lacks the class of the leading wines, and the vintage high heat has played its role in flattening its freshness. Drink à table, and get on with it until 2020. | 84