Andrew Jefford: Saturated black-red. Another very primeval nose: a little bit raw at this stage, with slightly livid fruit, but there’s so much going on in there that you can hardly help but be excited. Rich, dense, deep, hugely thrusting and medicinal on the palate... Surely this must have a high proportion of Mourvèdre, since Mourvèdre in Châteauneuf tends to emerge in a more medicinal style than it does farther south in Bandol. Higher acidity than most, too. And stylistically, slightly lumbering and Frankenstein-like. But wow! There is so much here, and it is so elemental and magmatic that you can’t but be astonished. Sensational tannins, too. An Easter Island statue among Châteauneufs. A totally amazing, totally divisive, totally confronting fine wine that is almost impossible to score. 18.5

Simon Larkin : A marked vanillin aspect from new oak on show here. Sweet coated fruits. The typicity seems obliterated, but there is some good old-vine fruit behind. A modern interpretation —slightly anonymous, but good substance and finesse beneath the superficial. Not my style, but some promise. 14

John Livingstone-Learmonth: Properly dark robe; mixed herbes de Provence front air, lissom black-fruit airs, with a shiny, modern appeal. A good, deep-set blackberry lies at the heart of the nose, which has some locked-up potential. The palate gives ripe fruit but is a little stretched, a line of spirit directing its play for now, notably on the finish, where its front-of-mouth acidity is a distraction. Gummy aftertaste, less precise and more demanding than is desirable. Unfinished business; better to leave it and hope for more integration. From 2016 to 2025/27. 15.5