Simon Field: Nose is a little hard, a touch rubbery, with a whisper of reduction that is hard to ignore; a shame, since I suspect that there is great purity of fruit underneath. At the moment, the overall impression is rather clumsy, with a bitterness on the finish that also undermines the general impression. | 84

Andrew Jefford: Saturated, deep black-red, though a little less opaque than some. Another wine with a burned, tar-pole nose. This lacks the freshness, purity, and finesse of the best of its peers, though there is still much to enjoy—exuberantly brandied bramble fruits, for example. On the palate, it is rich and generous, with extravagant and, indeed, almost daunting tannins: it’s another wine in the rich and beefy, almost volcanic style. Ferocious, unbridled, crocodilian stuff just now. There’s a huge amount here, but it lacks a little perfumed fruit purity. | 90

Richard Mayson: Deep and heady, a touch roasted on the nose, withatouch of tar and spice; big, bold, and hefty on the palate, raisiny, figgy fruit backed by powerful, ripe tannins that, at this stage, rather dominate the fruit on the finish. Solid, foursquare, seemingly a bit overextracted, and not showing a great deal of finesse at this stage. | 88