Simon Field | Tawny russet hue, hints of amber; legs still holding strong; lively spirity nose; vestigial plums, very late in the season, Asian spice and hints of caramel; palate has menthol freshness, figs, a fresh, enthralling lift; mellow autumnal spice, a Keatsean flow; persistent and quietly enthralling. Charm personified, unrelenting and deft in its captivating rigor. Fairly straightforward, if such a term is not too blasphemous, but only contextually. Sense and sensibility, a putative ascetic outlook soon waved to one side. | 94

Andrew Jefford | Translucent glowing russet-amber in color. Ample aromatic wealth, here: deep, broad, warm, and sweet, with notes of barley-sugar, tobacco, dried fruits, lavender, and cistus. Very harmonious and seamless; enticing, and no sense of senescence or reserve. Top notes and bottom notes alike; there is some fruit flesh and toffeed wealth underneath. Certainly the best aromatic amplitude and resonance of the first bracket of four 1963 wines. Rich, flavory, long, and aromatically lifted on the palate: still full of life, and with much going on in even a small sip. Texturally, it is full and ample; no tannins or grip per se, but great fruit-wealth lingering, and no spirit separation. A cascade of red fruits (plum, cherry, pomegranate) but some meat and some stone, too; fine Havana complexities on the finish. Ample, rewarding, and refined: a very fine ’63 that is still in fine shape and still (assuming you like well-aged Vintage Port) has much to give. Just a super wine, and a fine peer for the [Krohn’s 1963]. | 96

Richard Mayson | Pale, mature, brick red/tawny; spirit coming out first and foremost on the nose, underlying, soft, milk-chocolate fruit and a hint of torrefaction; soft, suave, still rich, with lovely milk-chocolate depth and a vestige of spicy tannin rising on the finish, a bit hollow and leathery. Now quite delicate and drying out on the finish. | 89