Medium colour with a hint of salmon red at the rim. Rose petals, faint stems and an undertow of meat on the nose. Still a little tannin, which, if you look closely enough has an element of astringency. Really interesting fruit that’s powdery and red with just enough sweetness – this really perks up with food. Very good but not yet great…

Lighter colour. Heavier perfume, perhaps a hint of esters. Starts with a narrow entry – this wine is initially more about texture than flavour, but the flavour slowly builds – really mouth-watering in the finish. A wine to wait for I think, but I find a lot to like here.

I love the slightly wild aromas, hints of stems and flowers – lovely. The mid-palate seems less concentrated than that of the 2006, but in this case it is the structure, rather than the flavour which seems to grow in the mouth.

Due to painfully late malos, this wasn’t bottled until September 2010 ! Delicate, precise, very pretty aromas, the stems are very-much a subtle element. The acid is well-balanced and there is plenty tannin – velvet in texture – plus a floral flavour. The flavour currently has to cede to the structure right now – but that’s classic de Courcel – so no worries!

Medium colour with a hint of salmon red at the rim. Rose petals, faint stems and an undertow of meat on the nose. Still a little tannin, which, if you look closely enough, has an element of astringency. Really interesting fruit that’s powdery and red with just enough sweetness – this really perks up with food.

A finer red-fruit nose – less roast. Lots and lots of tannin – I semi joke that this is a wine to eat not drink – reminds me of the 2001 which drinks great today. Te last drops in the glass smell absolutely gorgeous.

Menthol and herbal notes mix with blue and red fruit. Again lots and lots of structure, but after the previous wines this is rather linear and unyielding – tight!

Complex aromas of meat, herbs and dark fruit. Tons of very fine ultra-velvet tannin which currently bosses the fruit. The complexity of flavour in the mid-palate is compelling – achingly young and highly impressive.

Medium, medium-plus ruby-red colour at the core, just fading to salmon at the rim. The nose is a sweet mix of tea, coffee, forest floor and dark plum fruit. Immediate impact in the mouth, but then it smoothly melts across the palate without apparent tannin (how did that happen?) – at the start you have to look very hard to dig out the tannin, though slowly it starts to exert a little grip with faint fut finely grained astringency. The acid balance is lovely and a bitter mocha note follows long into the finish. It’s a wine of real character, young, but with more than a nod to some semi-mature flavours. A really personable individual.