AJ | Still some red left lurking here in the wine's glints, though now translucent and clear. Sweet, warm, tender and even luscious in style for such an old wine, with ample sweet fruits, some hessian, herbs too, and dried floral notes. Attractive if not quite a show-stopper, though the aromas are so seamless and well-knit that I may be underrrating the wine's aromatic force. Ample calm assurance on the palate, with splendid red fruit (a kind of strawberry distillate) packed about with sweetness and the refinement of fine old casks and years to hand. Svelte, smooth, long, pure and driving. Fresh on the finish, too, and that teasing, cleansing acidity ensures that you keep coming back. Drink Dates: 2025 - 2040. 93
SF | Almost translucent, defying logic as it changes appearance with only the smallest change in the surrounding environment; the wine is listening to the sun and the clouds as we taste on the Autumn Equinox. Very exciting. The excitement is maintained and maybe enhanced by a resolutely enigmatic aromatic and then a palate which appears to defy not only age but also the logic of expectation given the putative category and the clues given on alcoholic strength. This is all about discretion and harmony and nuance; its sweetness tempered by age, its complexity underwritten by inherent complexity and time itself. Less demonstrative than many, but not lacking for a beguiling ethereal character. Drink Dates: 2025 - 2045. 94
RM | Lovely mid-deep, brick-red to tawny in colour; quite demure on the nose with underlying soft savour-creamy, gently toasted fruit; similarly developed and gentle on the palate with just a dusting of tannin, a hint of back olive and some textural richness combined with freshness on the finish Drink Dates: 2025 - 2030. 92