Andrew Jefford | Dark black-red in color, with vivid, expressive scents of blackcurrant and reed, dried rose and exotic peppercorns; articulate, mellow, and intriguing. In the mouth, the wine is deep and fruit-drenched, with terrific concentration and a gathered force unusual in this vintage. There are firm backing tannins, and the acidity is subsumed into the force of the fruit as rarely elsewhere. Look out for lovely complexity to those fruit flavors with Darjeeling tea, damask rose, and bergamot all playing a role. Outstanding—the only note of caution being that the acidity remains relatively prominent right the way through the palate in a way that is not true for vintages of absolute ripeness (1982, 1990, 2000, 2009 et al). | 94

Michael Schuster | A dense, ripe fruit and gravel nose, persistent and fine; rich and fleshy, but also firmly tannic wine; complex, aromatic, sweetly ripe, juicily cored, subtly spicy, long and fine; a structure that is long-term, but a lovely, complete second- growth Pauillac. 2028–45+. | 93+