SB | Charming, honeyed nose, which suggests a touch of botrytis, though that's unlikely here. Still, has a seductive, aromatic appeal. Soft and rounded, this is fleshy and weighty, but lacks tension and vigor. There is supporting acidity but it doesn't cut through the ripeness. Thus a sweet wine for those who don't particularly enjoy the style. Unambitious, this is straightforward, with little complexity or cut. Fairly short, and it should be drunk soon. 87
AJ | Bright mid-gold. This is terrific: "oxidative" for a young wine, but the oxygen seems to have unlocked a whole cupboard-full of aromas. Apricot, mango, beeswax, old books, forest leaves in autumn, library dust but also Chantilly cream and fruit bar. Complex, finely structured aromatic profile. Oh, yes; truffle, too. A truly wonderful aroma for a three-year-old wine. On the palate, too, this is splendid stuff, with so much to say for itself—all of the above, in effect, running and tumbling and skidding through a long, commanding palate full of mango perfume and mango smoke, and with the most brilliant acidity roasting the whole damn thing into liveliness and song. When you taste a wine like this, you realize that the South West really is full of hidden treasures... Totally delicious wine in "festival of autumn" style. 94
SR | This intensely golden-yellow 2020 Pacherenc offers an intense and concentrated, almost-exuberant bouquet of super-ripe and concentrated fruits, such as mandarins and oranges, intertwined with saline and dark-chocolate and bitter-orange notes. Lush and refined on the palate, this is a quite sweet but vital and tensioned Pacherenc, though with rather too much new-oak flavor, which unfortunately takes the lead on the finish of an otherwise very promising wine. The finish is fresh and saline, lovely and savory, but the oak influence is still there. 91