Medium-plus colour. The nose starts with a fine depth and only the faintest of the vintage taint – slowly that a builds to an almost unpleasant level – after 2 hours it fades a little, giving a faint spearmint edge and some nice red berry notes. In the mouth there’s reasonable density and slightly forward acidity. The texture is okay, as is the slightly savoury length – maybe even a first hint of mushroom is there. If a little overwhelming on the nose the ‘04 character’ remains only a faintly interesting note on the palate.

Medium, medium-plus cherry-red colour. The nose is understated but shows good depth and there’s no ‘2004 character’. In the mouth it’s serious, with good mid-palate dimension and a good persistence of ripe flavour. Very nice – I bought some more.