Michel Bettane and Thierry Desseauve: All the samples were well prepared and the taste was consistent: a wine that is already nicely open, fat and smooth by the standards of the vintage – and more vinous than the other Beauséjour. Long, complex and full of flavour – just a touch more elegance and it would have been perfect. 16

Margaret Rand: Well structured and balanced, with fruitcakey fruit around a tight core. 17

Michael Schuster: Inky. Dense, ripe fruit, mineral and creamy oak on the nose. Rich, concentrated, elegantly balanced, medium-full wine with a fine, firmly dry, fruit and oak tannin. Lovely balance in the style of the year (flesh and freshness); rich and long across the palate, with a clear mineral backing to the ripe, black cherry fruit and a long, sweet fruit finish. A little ‘hot’ perhaps for my taste, but a fine example of the newer-wave St-Emilions. 16.5