Simon Field | Blood brick rim beyond the endlessly tenebristic core. Zurbarán meets Ribeira. Nose characterized by woodsmoke, wild loganberries (were they ever tame?), raspberry, and dark chocolate, with a high percentage of cocoa. The sweet core is charming, for all that, and there is a lift that forswears volatility with pashmina charm. Potent, but with potential. | 90

Andrew Jefford | Dense, saturated black with a purple rim; long legs that drape the glass’s sides. Gruff and unresolved aromas as yet, though the core of warm fruit is palpable. Let’s give it some time. Still not improved five minutes later, so we might try a second bottle—which we do. And it’s the same, and really (as so often elsewhere in this tasting), it is the pre-adolescent unformed self we are looking at, and (as with humans) it’s often a muddle... but it doesn’t mean that it will all turn out badly. Gruff but good. In the mouth, the wine is deep, sweet, exuberant, almost chocolate and coffee and raisin, rather than fresh blackcurrant and creamy sloe. Generous, ample, ripe Vintage Port. | 90

Richard Mayson | Withdrawn on the nose, with underlying and rather off-putting rubbery, tar-like aromas. Big, rich, and rather soupy on the nose, lacking definition. Big, ripe tannins, with bittersweet tar-like intensity, but the elegance is submerged. Hot-country finish. Perhaps just a stage; this may come good in time. Reserve judgment. | 85