Andrew Jefford: Saturated deep black-red. Gosh, this is “in yer face.” It has an almost sweaty quality that won’t be to everyone’s taste, but it is also very herbal, very sweetly beguiling (for those who like close contact), very planty and sappy, very fresh-mown hay. Super-intense on the palate, almost achingly so; real grape essence here. You can feel the old vines tramping out of the vineyard, like the terra-cotta warriors, and marching all over your tongue. How can you not like that? This isn’t wine so much as vine essence. But it is very affronting; it’s almost as if the raw materials are so powerful than the vinifier can’t actually do much with them except let them be— which was, maybe, the wisest thing to do. 17.5

Simon Larkin : A bit whiffy on the nose, reduced, tanky. Slightly stewy characters on show. It comes across disjointed, lacking freshness and poise. There is a grainy character to the tannins on the palate. Tough to score… 11

John Livingstone-Learmonth: Somber, dark robe; big, grilled, little-restraint bouquet—has a resin, basil note in it, a grounded charge from the hot lands; soaked black cherries; is upright, nearly stiff. The palate presents a broad mass of liqueur-style fruit, and that note of charge reappears. It ends more on texture than precise fruit. Syrah feel in its late, rather jammy, exerted stages. Doesn’t quite convince in its integration. From 2015 to 2025/27. 15