SF | Ruby color, a hint of garnet, but the tawny phase eludes us at the moment. The nose is primary, plums and damson to the fore, strawberry jam almost; a precocious example, for sure. Medium concentration on the palate, the aforementioned descriptors revisited, with a sugary subplot that recalls a reserve style, and a slightly compromised finish. 86
AJ | Dark black-red still; not yet visually "a tawny." Aromatically, too, we seem to be betwixt and between: the fresh red fruits have scuttled away, but it's too soon for fragrant aerial refinement; it almost seems to be reduced, but it isn't; it's just sitting, a little grumpily, in the waiting room. A warm sweetness lifts, and a sense that fruit is not far away. On the palate, the wine is sweet, rather sturdy, a little grippy, with some dark, leaf-and-mushroom notes: characterful. Perhaps a little earthy; dark chocolate finally. (A real poser in the MW tasting paper.) How should one think of it as a drinking prospect? An LBV with extended aging, perhaps. 2024–28. 89
RM | Mid-deep center, youthful for a Colheita, only just turning tawny on the rim. Ripe and rather stewed on the nose, showing rather pruney, hot-country fruit, with the spirit showing through; soft, rich, and still quite hefty, showing the same rather dusty, stewed fruit as on the nose, retaining spicy tannins, which rise in the mouth to a ripe, rather dusty finish. Lacks poise and definition. This wine could have done with longer in cask. 80