Alex Hunt: This wine is playing away from the fruit, aromatically, with rocky and vegetable notes to the fore. The structure is poised, mid-weight, with appropriately fine-grained tannin. The wine might be going through a slightly reductive phase, but it appears on the austere side at this point. 86

Andrew Jefford: Saturated deep purple-red; opaque. Gruff, with some peppery green tones in here. Very deep on the palate, with lots to kick into and enjoy; firm backing tannins; a mouth-filling style. To me it is just a little bit cool and green, which is a puzzle—perhaps some deliberate mixed ripeness? Excellent Syrah fruit, anyway, full of the moist coal and coal-dust character of its septentrional incarnation; plenty of oak; and then a cool green freshness and copsiness to the style that some may like, but it doesn’t quite do it for me. Much better ripeness than the green meanies among the Syrah cohort, though. 89

Peter Liem: This is concentrated in tone, showing dark, vibrant flavors of blackberry and black cherry. It’s fragrant on the finish, with a firm depth of fruit and slightly grainy tannins, and it feels harmonious and expressive. 90