Essi Avellan: Deep golden color, with orange hues. Strong bruised apple character of oxidative handling. Earthy notes, tobacco, and dust. Powerful but not fully clean. Round and fat but somewhat heavy, due to a lack of refreshing spine. 14.5

Michael Edwards: More evolved and oxidative than ollinger La Grande Année 1997]. À point. Drink up. 16

Tom Stevenson: Fresher than ollinger La Grande Année 1997], but it does not have the concentration or class. 16