Andrew Jefford | Dark, dense black-red. As with a number of the other leading second wines this year, there is a sense of struggle and strain to the aromatic profile here, a lack of the fresh fruit intensity you find in the château wines of more modestly sited (but equivalently priced) wines. This smells of sweet cherry and plum fruit, and hay and straw, in rather loose style. On the palate it is loose-knit, too, though the blackcurrant fruits are attractive, vivid, and accessible in style and have fair concentration. A classically styled Pauillac for relatively early drinking. | 87

Michael Schuster | Closed, but gently ripe and aromatic; elegantly balanced mid-weight wine, fresh and finely tannic; savory to taste, moderate length of flavor and aftertaste. A touch of the rain dilution. Accessible early, but no hurry. 2021–30+. | 88