SF | Distinctive and typical aromatic of toasty oak on a bed of generous and ripe fruit....nutmeg, cinnamon and quince behind; almost a hint of tarte tatin, Viennese patisserie maybe; a wine with a personality almost as charismatic as that of its owner.....pleasingly different, its allure based more on nuance than on mere concentration or power. Acidity is nicely balanced and tannins have a distinctive voice; a playful yet supremely accomplished scherzo . 94
AJ | Saturated dense midnight-black in colour. Lots of warm oak, burnishing what are in case very attractive, very ripe fruits, packed with the glowing burr of autumn (hedgerows, fires and cleared scrub). Rich, soft, open, burnished and agreeably languid for what is often a very 'alert' year, with ample, almost black-chocolate tannins. Perhaps just a touch dry at the very end.Drink Dates: 2024 - 2031. 92
MS | A surprising, enticing early bouquet here already, of ripe cherry fruit, game, truffle, undergrowth, minerals … a function of what François Mitjaville calls ‘la degradation’ of the grapes at maturity, and resulting in an appealing ‘decadence’ of bouquet, in any case a remarkable complexity and development at but four years! Full, fresh, finely and firmly tannic; deep and sweet to taste, a broad, subtle, complex, fragrance-rich flavour, that ‘burgundian’ combination of delicacy and power; pure, graceful, close grained, mouthcoating, a wine of great presence and harmony, with the attractive transparency of the best of St Emilion, easy, graceful and fruit-fragrance prolonged in aftertaste. Outstanding TR. Delectably seductive already, but really a long term wine. Drink Dates: 2034 - 2054+. 96