Bruno Besa: Garnet to tawny. Open, slightly dusty, earthy, farmyardy nose, with cedar wood and red and black fruits. A little unbalanced on the palate, with challenging tannins and slightly dried-out fruit. 87

Andrew Jefford: Clear, bright oxblood. Smoky, resinous, and characterful but not quite classical. Enticing for all that, with ample aromatic resource and great seductive power. (Gruffalo-esque, for those with children.) On the palate, it is a little too dry and squeezed and not-quite-comfortable, though the huge aromatic resource abides and the tannins are magnificent, too. Really interesting wine and you would get a lot from it over an hour or two, but the flesh doesn’t quite match up to the aromatic wealth. It is just a touch dry in the final analysis. 89

Michael Palij: Intense nose of oak, cooked fruit, and jammy characteristics including vanilla, fig, prune, and dried meat. On the palate, the tannins come to the fore with an aggressive, drying note that leaves this wine searching for balance. As attractive as it may be in the short term, I doubt that this will survive many years. 87