Tim Atkin : Bright, youthful purple. Raw, rather unappetising nose swamped by charry oak. The same character dominates on the palate, which has a vulgar, sawdust flavour. There’s nothing wrong with the underlying fruit, but it’s struggling to emerge from the woodpile. The wine finishes dry and mean. 12.5

Oz Clarke: Fairly deep red. Rather almond paste and rough on the nose. On the palate, initially quite good fruit, but this is the first wine to have rough tannins. They’re clinging to my lips at the moment and drying out my palate. That’s a pity. It seems partly wood tannins and partly fruit tannins. The wood is quite strong - perhaps too strong for this fruit and very slightly dusty. It doesn't quite work and will not knit with age. 14.5

Michael Schuster: Black-red; dumb nose, blackberry fruit and fine oak vanilla; moderately concentrated fruit framed by a very firm, dry tannin; at present, the tannin seems too abundant for the fruit, finishes rather short; intense ‘vertical’ flavour, not a lot of reach to it. Strong, but blunt. 14