Simon Field | Aubergine color, bright if far from translucent. A persuasive, slightly surprising aromatic, briary, smoke, and gorse, the dark fruit almost lost in the undergrowth... There is marked acidity here, maybe too marked, though it does not appear to be either acetic or overly volatile. Scrub, garrigue, and bitter chocolate on the palate; aniseed and preserved lemons somewhere in the portrait. Hard to love, this one. | 87

Andrew Jefford | Dark, dense black-red, with the rim just modulating from purple to red. Warm, sweet, and spicy, with lots of leather and licorice. We’re into mid-maturity here, but in contrast to some of its peers, this wine evidently still has more to give. On the palate, it is deep, juicy, and exuberant, but (for a Cahors) relatively smooth-textured, as if the winemaker was in some way afraid of overextracting during vinification. This puts a little too much emphasis (to my mind) on acidity, but I am also mindful that this might be a wine of the upland Causses, in which case this balance would be an effect of terroir. Whatever the truth, it is an exuberant, deep-flavored Cahors in mid- maturity, with lots to offer the drinker. | 90

Anthony Rose | Good youthful color. Exceptionally spicy and fragrant, imbued with a beguiling charry oak sweetness of aroma and an underlying fruit quality that is super-ripe, in damson-plum mold. This is still vigorous to the point of muscularity, a powerful, almost chewy red, with spice, salt, and savoriness, and a firm, grippy structure that cries out for food. | 91