Jesús Barquín: Intense and concentrated nose, meat stew, powerful. So is the palate, with a slightly overwhelming structure with earthy, powerful, but non-aggressive tannins. Needs to open up and develop quite a bit yet—but with good promise, in my opinion. 16

Alex Hunt: Dark, brooding blackberry fruit under a sternly savory layer of rocky aroma. This takes a lot of cajoling in the glass but does start to play ball. The palate has vast reserves of power, understated thanks to intelligent extraction and no undue oak. Silkily tenacious, seriously macho, yet with surprising poise and finesse, this is full of brilliantly resolved tension. 17

Andrew Jefford: Saturated dense black-red. Sweet, meaty aromas, slabby, with ground-stone complexities, too. Uncompromising but intriguing. Deep, fat, full, with ample extract and depth. There’s a slightly raisiny quality to the fruit, but I like that here, since the zone and low yields bring innate complexity, and it goes well with the faintly saline crushed soil width that qualifies the wine’s textural dimension. Creeps across the tongue like caterpillar tracks. Ample, gutsy stuff, with shovelfuls of character. 16