Simon Field: Elegant colour mirrored in a nose that is vinous, harmonious and multilayered. Lovely compote and spice, fruitcake and crushed violets. An English country garden... The Douro. The palate is quite broad, lacking the concentration and ripeness that one sometimes associates with the vintage. An impressive and agreeable effort nonetheless, the sugar and spirit well integrated for relatively early drinking. 16.5

Andrew Jefford: Dark black-red; opacity terminated, but only just. Slightly odd charred-capsicum quality. Almost herbaceous, but not quite. A puzzle: canopy problems? Slightly early picking? Both seem unlikely in the Douro in 1994. I’m being finicky... There is the same kind of quality to the blackcurrant fruits in this wine, making it a slightly strange, New World-like style of Port: pure, intense and has impact, but a bit simple. For the ordinary drinker this will be a pleasant, peppery, feisty glass of Vintage Port: not a failure... 15

Richard Mayson: Very good deep colour, thin crimson purple rim. Quite dull on the nose, giving very little away. Rich and fleshy on the palate, tight, with firm spicy tannins, but still rather green on the finish. Lovely length but slightly one-dimensional. Drink 2010-2025. 16