Michael Schuster | A slightly burned/cedary/high-toast cask character to smell here, too (the Mouton fumée, from the soil, not the barrels), dense and persistent and fine; rich, elegant, medium-full proportions and presence, so freshly defined by its acidity, and with such fine-textured tannins; an undemonstrative but most aristocratic presence; deep, taut, blackcurrant-sweet, long and juicy, so tenacious and subtle to taste, and with fabulously close-grained tannins, subtly mouth-coating and very prolonged to finish. A wonderfully complete and absolutely lovely wine, which will be an intense yet effortless drinking joy at a mere 13% ABV. A very special combination, in the current climate, of moderate alcohol, intensity of flavor, and absolute class. A sort of splendid classicism. Wait a good ten years plus, and then probably think generations rather than decades? 2034–70+.