Simon Field | Midnight black, with a narrow pink-purple rim and long legs. A challenging nose, more savory than sweet; leafy and resinous, restrained and subtle. The palate prolongs the debate: There are intimations of ripe morello cherry and fig, but also a dark, brooding undertow; camphor and slightly bitter tannins. No comfort from new oak here, and maybe the older wood drags down the structure a little. A slight alcohol burn, too. Perhaps the drought in 2018 interrupted the development of the grapes, resulting in a raw and slightly disjointed wine. | 87

Andrew Jefford | Dense, dark, saturated black-red, with purple glints. All very intense and brooding. Some oak shows on the nose, and there is also a weight of dense black fruit, too, in relatively inarticulate style. The oak’s shoulder is what you see at this stage. Give it time, for there is obviously much to come here. A big, weighty, skulking prop forward of a wine, with grandiose fruit and grandiose tannin, too, but all in rather inchoate style at present. Top marks for concentration, depth, and quality, too, but it is potential quality at this stage; there needs to be a settling period. Is this a Mourvèdre-rich blend? Possibly; or possibly just exuberant extraction from very promising raw materials. I’d also like to see the oak settle a little more. Anyway, it’s one to stuff away, and it may well merit a higher score in three or four years. | 91

Anthony Rose | Good youthful color here. Aromatic in the dark-berry fruit spectrum, showing ripe blackberry fruit, and some chocolaty notes that, while not Porty, are heading in the overripe direction, with chewy, dry tannins that don’t add to the gaiety of the nation or even of this particular wine. | 87