Medium-pale ruby red. Sweet older nose of complex red fruit and wood. There’s also a fabulous burst of fruit on the palate. Despite good acidity and tannins, nothing seems to be melding together all that well – nice parts but not a team performance.

Lovely deep ruby colour, just bricking a little at the rim. This looks younger than many a 1997. Nose – what nose? then oops: can that really be creosote? The note is halfway between creosote and corked, floating over a sweet base. It comes through on the first part of the palate too – such a shame as this wine is big bodied and exceptionally long in the background. Just in case this was some type of devilish bottle stink I vacuvin’d it overnight. Next day we still had creosote, just a little more subdued, but not much. Tainted