Tim Atkin: Saturated youthful purple; raw, lumber-yard nose, very oaky. Rather unbalanced: lots of alcohol and oak, slightly raw acidity, and then the fruit seems to be component parts rather than working together. May improve with time, but the clumsy oak is a worry. 14.5

Gerard Basset: Very deep purple, with small pink rim; extremely pronounced nose. Mocha, tar, and spices. Robust but ripe, with black fruit in retro. Medium finish. 14

Anthony Rose: This is a dense, saturated, inky ruby color, very youthful in appearance; powerfully spicy oak and coffee-bean aromatic quality that, at this stage, seems a tad overoaky. The palate is opulently blackberryish, with lashings of vanilla and coconut oak. The tannins are supple, if a tad chunky, and there is good balance of acidity. Still far too youthful to drink with this level of oak and tannin, and one hopes that the tannins and oak will integrate down the line, because this is undoubtedly a good wine. 17