Oz Clarke: Palate full, fairly deep, dark, plum and cherry fruit, with rich cherry nose. The tannin is a little severe, but the fruit is good and just about manages to envelop the rough edges. Even so, slightly less rough tannin would get the wine a higher mark, because I think as the fruit mellows and recedes the tannin will stay unknit and stark at the end. For now, though, a good frontiersman Cab. 16.5

Alex Hunt: Very creamy nose – off-puttingly so, in fact; almost like butterscotch. I’m not much of a fan of banoffee-pie flavour in Chardonnay, and it’s worse with tannin! This resembles Cabernet by the finish, but overall it lacks focus and varietal conviction. 13

Margaret Rand: Light, silky tannins, coffee fruit and a good firm, long finish. A very good finish, actually: great finesse and persistence. Very good, elegant coffee flavours, but at the moment the finish is even better than the palate. So in a year or two’s time it will probably be even better than it is now. 17