Andrew Jefford | Dark black-red and still opaque, though not the saturated midnight-black of some of its peers. Fine-pressed, sleek blackcurrant fruits with sumptuous soft leather, fern, and moss, moist tobacco, and root spices: effortless complexity and class already, though there is certainly much to give. You can smell the forest in this wine, in ripe and scented summertime guise: the very best of Pessac classicism. Subtle yet disarmingly good. This is very exciting on the palate: close-knit and gathered, with grand intensity and above all a level of aromatic finesse that its Pessac peers in this tasting cannot yet match. The curranty fruits are pencilly and pure, yet it’s the layers of leather, tobacco, forest moss, and root spice, even though they are merely hinted at, which take the wine further. The acidity is as fresh and zesty as the tannins are fine, giving the wine huge refreshment value. Fine work here. | 94

Michael Schuster | Still closed to smell, but gravel element clear; medium-full, but with a nice concentration, fresh and very finely tannin textured; crisply ripe in fruit, long and subtle and graceful across the palate, beautifully defined, with considerable scope and complexity, and great length to finish. Lovely! 2028–40+. | 94