Michel Bettane and Thierry Desseauve: A pretty, elegant nose; licorice, prune, cherry, and spice; sumptuous texture and length; a remarkable wine with a great future. 17.5

Michael Schuster: Muted ripe fruit, gentle, scented; very full-bodied, quite powerful, finely tannic—but firmly so, too; warm, sweet-fruited, fullish, but fresh; long across the palate, both sweetly ripe, and very faintly alcohol-bitter, too; long and mouth-coating; the Merlot dominance shows in its power and weight this year; plenty of slightly bitter-chocolate flavor, long across the palate, and long to finish, with the slightly warm, coating effect of highish alcohol. Sweet, opulent, quite powerful—very different from a few years ago. Long-term Carmes, a vin de garde, probably needing at least ten years. Good in its more powerful style. 2020–35. 16+/16.5