SF | A big colour for a fulsome, generously extracted wine, everything writ large, too large some may say, but , most importantly harmoniously and the ripe fruit sits in eloquent counterpoint to the shard-like acidity and the dominant but not domineering tannins. Red and blue fruit share the honours, a little soft spice in support and a firm , assured finish. Maybe lacks just a little of the concentration and detail which one will hope to encounter in the senior wine.. 90
MS | Fine ripe fruit a bit masked by the alcohol? Full, fresh enough, finely dry in tannin; both sweetly ripe to taste, and faintly bitter from the alcohol, a refined flavour, but I suspect held back from real beauty by its combination of high alcohol and new oak; long and close grained beneath the wood and alcohol, but just overall hardened by these structural aspects. Good but …? Will it age gracefully? I’m not sure. I think I’d rather have the Bellevue from the same stable at half the price. You’ll need to put it away for quite a while in any case. Not, today, the star I remember it as en primeur Drink Dates: 2028 - 2038+. 91