Andrew Jefford | Deep, dark purple-red; just opaque on the palate still. Arresting and forthcoming, but somewhat dry-toned and a little reductive when first poured, so less pristine and enticing than the best of its peers. This faint reduction lingers in my bottle, even with air. Clean, concentrated, and forthright, and in general terms more agreeable than the aromas suggested it would be, though clearly a cool wine in a cool vintage. Pure blackcurrant, elder, and sloe, with firm, faintly bitter tannins. | 87

Michael Schuster | Closed to smell; finely balanced in the year’s cool, tight style. Medium-full, firm in acidity, firm in fine tannin, a clear, long-term balance; medium-full, crisply ripe in fruit, long to taste in its overall austere style. Aromatic, complex, persistent, and really quite fine, but very clearly needing plenty of bottle age to mellow. 2027–40+. | 89