Neil Beckett: Aristocratic, brooding nose, but already complex and rewarding – black cherry, bitter chocolate, coffee, still more floral than roasted. Astonishingly dense, effortlessly grand, elegant despite its massive scale, pure and silky. So deep that one can’t quite see to the bottom, which leaves something of a black hole on the dry mid-palate, as though all the flavours promised on the nose have been sucked in. But that they will re-emerge is suggested by the chocolate and cherry reprise on the long finish. At a comparatively normal 13.5%, the alcohol is carried well. (Biodynamic cultivation of these enclosed vieilles vignes does seem to have resulted in better-balanced vines and wine; at 25hl/ha, yields were much more regular than for most). Not succulent at this early stage, but this is one of the few wines of the vintage that seems sure to repay patient storage for ten or more years. Magnificent wine from a special site and talented winemaker (Benjamin Leroux).