Stephen Brook: Very deep red, almost opaque. Lush oaky nose, black cherries, plums, a bit tarry. Rich, rounded, full-bodied, but rather flat and lacking in zest. Concentrated and even tight, and with fair acidity on the finish, but this isn’t a patch on the classic, elegant L-B style we know and love. These tannins are a bit coarse and rustic, and I don’t see this aging well. Drink soon for its abundant if un-nuanced fruit. 15

Stephen Browett: A truly black color. A very sexy nose of licorice and spicy new oak. The palate is huge, roasted, and powerful. Very deep and dense, this has mind-blowing levels of extraction. One of the most intense expressions of Cabernet Sauvignon ever. Exotic yet deadly serious. A real monster of first growth proportions. Fabulous. 18

Michael Schuster: Very dark red; much denser to smell than the Langoa; concentrated, tannic, with a toughness of texture that looks like outliving the fruit by some way; overall, severe, and a bit blunt. Finishes with good medium length but very chewy. A very extracted style here, likely to be forever charmless as fine wine on its own. A tough, long-term prospect. Future difficult to predict, but hard to see this ever giving much elegant St-Julien pleasure! Drink from 2015 earliest. 16?