Michel Bettane: Still a strange and exotic effort, with the burned nose evident since the birth of the wine; huge body and sweet tannins. Tight but neither heavy nor sluggish. 16.5

Thierry Desseauve: “California” style; overripe, even burned fruit aromas, rich body, powerful, no sluggishness, unique in style and definitely not my cup of tea. 16

Michael Schuster: Dense and minerally nose; powerful, muscular, tannic wine, long, elegant, concentrated, and refined; a lovely ripeness of fruit (a suggestion of overripeness?), a vital acidity, a very firm but fine-textured tannin, a notable tenacity of flavor across the palate, and great persistence of both fruit and aroma to finish. Classy, complete Cos, less “extreme” in bottle than it tasted en primeur. Will need many years to mellow, though. The alcohol does show on the finish as a distinct warmth, and slight “burn”… if you are sensitive to that. 2025–50+. 18