Jesús Barquín: Golden yellow. There is a sort of Japanese touch in this wine, quite saline and vegetal, with something weird that disturbs in both nose and palate. Maybe too much concentration in the aromas after many years of barrel age, I do not know. Anyway, since I am able to guess the producer and the style, it is somewhat disappointing. In any case one I'd rather try than just ignore. 85

Andrew Jefford: Full gold. Tired, oxidized, oniony, and flat on the nose. Maybe I will sound like a barbarian, but when I smell this, (a) I don’t particularly want to sip, and (b) I think what was the point of all that age? The palate is even more disappointing, so let’s try a second bottle. Bottle 2: Exactly the same. For me, this is a wine that has been totally obliterated by time, alas: the great tradition pursued to a point of decadence. Perhaps it would have been a fine wine in the early 1 99 0s, but it is no longer so. 73

Richard Mayson: Deep, deep golden color; curiously vegetal on the nose, with a smell of buttered, overcooked cabbage; an orange-peel character initially on the palate, with rancio dominating through to the finish where that bitter-cabbage and Brussels sprout vegetal character reemerges. This is a wonderful curiosity but not a very pleasant drink. So, how to score it? A provisional score of 70 , just because I find it disagreeable, but this does not really do it justice! 70