Stephen Brook: Very deep red. Muted nose but already seems quite evolved, with some tobacco aromas as well as plummy fruit; smoky too. Rich, almost unctuous, but soft-textured, with a lot of oak. Not too extracted, so not over-dense. Has some acidity to enliven the finish, but there’s not much finesse here. Quite good length, and a chunky finish. 15

Stephen Browett: A black color. A huge nose. Quite a monster. Great concentration here! Sweet, powerful black fruits and licorice dominate the palate with an almost oily mouth-feel. Sweet oak, sexy and decadent. Despite the impressive weight, it is smooth and polished. Stylistically, this stands out like a saw thumb, and is not for some—scores varied between 82 and 94 16.5

Michael Schuster: Dark, brick-rimmed red; crisp, ripe red fruit and cedary new oak on the nose; fullish, and tannic, with the marked dryness of new wood very clear in the texture; quite rich in ripe fruit for the year and commune, moderately complex across palate, but with a slightly “fluid-loose” feel that emphasizes the tannin; good, new oak-tinged, juicy red fruit length. Very nice, and likely to keep and develop relatively well in the 2003 context. From 2012. 16