Michel Bettane: Some bitterness on the nose, like black chocolate: too ripe for my taste. 15

Thierry Desseauve: Supple and dry, not very attractive. 12

Michael Schuster: Sweetly fruited to smell; a strong oak tannin marks the palate, plenty of ripe fruit here, but a very dry wood astringency mars the wine for me. Not sure quite what to make of this, the texture is so forbidding. Verges on coarse. For those for whom a lot of tannin is a plus. Will certainly need plenty of time. 15