SF | Dense colour; oak stained in every sense, something a little metallic undermining or at least challenging the potential of fruit expressionism. Intense and concentrated for sure, and as one would expect, ripe and robust if structure. Needs time for the oak influence to diminish; thereafter the question centres on whether the acidity is sufficient to hold up the structure. Hard to say. 91
AJ | Saturated midnight black-red: certainly the densest in colour of the P-Ls. Meaty, fat and warm: this is really the 'least forested' of all PLs, with splendid fruit richness and spattering aromatic depths. Lots of spice, too. Snug inside the city, yet it is not without vitality either, and there is ample black-cherry charm here. Dense, ripe, warm, spicy and more richly tannic (I suspect) than anything else in PL -- yet those tannins just melt into the tongue. The freshness-in-ripeness of the vintage is apparent here, too, in that the black cherry fruit is primeur fresh and poised. The concentration is very well-judged -- nothing overdone; and ditto for the oak. This is what we once called 'a pleasure bomb' but realised for the new Zeitgeist of freshness and shapeliness. Let's not forget pleasure! (And actually I am phrasing this debate as if it was all about stylistic decisions -- though the truth is that these things reflect site above all.)Drink Dates: 2026 - 2040.