Simon Field | Bold, youthful, and foursquare, luxuriating in a carmine robe, its ermine thick and resplendent; tannins tie it down with rigor, but the grape’s more ethereal inclinations propel toward sunnier uplands, the structure solid and dependable. | 91

Andrew Jefford | Saturated midnight black-red in color; opaque. Rich and sweet in scent, with some oak, I think, as well as lush strawberry, plum, and damson fruits. After a while, too, you notice a piney freshness and lift, and a honeyed or pollen-like note to the sweetness as well. Aromatically, very complex and enticing, and this complexity really builds in the glass. Powerfully, deeply, and densely fruited on the palate, built on a grandiose core of searching bramble, black plum, and damson fruit, amply structured, informed but not dominated by sweetness, sweeping and searching across the palate. Masterful and complete. | 93

David Williams | Darkly fruited and lavished in oak, a wine where all of the elements have been dialed up to 11, and the effect, for this taster, is hard work—an almost Cognac-like mix of sweet oak and spirit but little in the way of detail or character. | 87