Tim Atkin: Mid-ruby/purple, hint of brown/tawny at rim. Chocolate and smoke on the nose, oak-dominated. Leafy, ripe, Cab-dominated, with quite firm, drying tannins and that burned-rubber note again. Smoky, autumnal, dry finish. Slightly hard acidity. I find these flavors hard to enjoy. 7

Gerard Basset: Medium ruby with some garnet. Reasonably open nose. Cranberry, green pepper. Lean and tight, ripe tannin, gooseberry; medium-short finish. 13.5

Anthony Rose: Good youthful color, shading slightly to garnet, showing a bit of evolution; powerful dark fruits quality, well-integrated oak, quite grippy, firm tannins, a slightly green, herbaceous underlying character that makes this distinctively South African; quite hefty alcohol and chunky tannins, too, that bring a drying finish to the wine. 13