Stephen Brook: Deep red. Reticent blackberry nose. Broad, juicy, and concentrated, with a sleek texture and bright acidity. This has drive and intensity and a vigorous peppery aftertaste that enlivens the palate, as do the finegrained tannins. Excellent balance and length give an admirable and zesty finish 17.5

Alex Hunt: This wine pushes ripeness, volatile acidity, and extraction to the very brink and gets away with it. There is some wild, edgy pleasure to be found here and a good balance of flavors, mixing dried herbs, plums, bramble jelly, and spice. The VA remains a slight sticking point—it is a little obtrusive on the palate—but overall this is an exciting high-wire act 14.5

Anthony Rose: Medium-ruby shading to garnet, with a nicely evolved look to it. Suitably evolved aromatic complexity, mingling oak spice, light mintiness, and red fruits, with a nice succulence of concentrated, sweetly ripe, dark red fruits on the palate and a good balance of supple-textured tannins and freshness, albeit with just a chunky touch of dryness on the back palate. Another one for blood-red rare rump 17