Essi Avellan: Medium-deep lemon color. A fragrant and fresh nose of confectionery, acacia, toast, and melon. Elegant palate, with a fine balance of ethereal fruit and highlighted acidity. The intensity will allow a positive development for a further 5–7 years; however, the wine still drinks finely today. 18

Michael Edwards: The nose on the first bottle tastes tainted. The second bottle is brighter, but neither really holds my attention. 14.5

Tom Stevenson: By far the lightest color of all three wines from this producer. In all truth, it looks no more aged than two or three years, let alone another decade on top! Nothing wrong with the nose or palate, but I am not impressed. Is it stripped? Subliminal TCA? A second bottle confirmed my suspicions; chalk and cheese! Not only is there more color (subliminal TCA can strip color, as well as fruit; albeit still a very youthful tint, but the fruit is much more expressive). Lovely mousse, softer and more fluffy. (Can TCA affect the mousse?) I should not be put off by the first “off” bottle. I should score this as the second bottle deserves. (Some Australian competitions have stopped second bottles because judges were too timid in their scores of the second, better wine, whereas they would not have flinched at scoring high had the “off” bottle been the second, unopened bottle.) 18