Simon Field | Exceptionally dense color, not much by way of chiaroscuro here; raven black at the core with only a little “give” toward garnet at the rim. The nose is decadent, blackcurrant pastille, tar, fair-ground treats, and even a hint of Bovril. The sweet and the savory meet head on, and the battle will be hard fought. The palate is jammy with molasses rendered, alarmingly sweet and decadent; one thinks of extremely ripe figs and toffee-apple. Something of a Maury, even, with a hint of garrigue rolling across its finer contours. There is much to please here, but it overplays its hand somewhat and almost offers too much; there is no purity and no sense of achieving a home key. | 86

Andrew Jefford | Dark, dense, saturated black-red: a very youthful look. Neither translucent nor opaque at this stage, and only dark red right out at the rim. Sweet, vivid, deep, fresh, and alluring, though as with [Warre’s 1980] from our 1980 cohort the fruits seem a little simple and primary for this point in the aging cycle. Treacle and tar cling to the brambly, earthy fruits and it is lots of fun to sniff. No floral notes, though, or any notes of a higher and more ethereal register. You can smell the generosity for all that. Vivid, deep, sweet, full, rich, a touch fiery, but lots of dark driving depths and overall generosity. It doesn’t quite have the velvety quality and gathered force of the best 1980s, but there is still a huge amount to enjoy here in terms of sweet plum and bramble fruit and overall plushness. I think it’s ready now, even for classicists. | 93

Richard Mayson | Deep, nearly opaque at the center, withathin rim, remarkably youthful, another wine with an impressive color; overtly ripe, dusty, plummy fruit on the nose, and similarly very sweet, liquorous, and jammy on the palate, fruit cake, fruit still quite fresh and backed by firm, gravelly tannins, but there is not much in the way of finesse until the very tail end of the finish. A bit soupy. A difficult wine to mark, as this has stood up well but lacks definition. | 88