Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose is quite different here; dark but maybe a hint reduced and tight at the core – it takes a few minutes, but slowly the nose becomes more expressive. In the mouth it’s ripe and fresh, yet gives me the impression that it is lifted and a little volatile. Still, there is decent balance and a very good finish. Others liked it, I am not entirely convinced…

Medium, medium-plus colour. Fine and wide aromas, less dark than many, still spicy but becoming a little animale. Ripe with some fat, really nice texture despite, or perhaps because of the furry tannin. Insinuating flavours refuse to depart though this is still a baby. Quite minerally saline and very long. Nice.

(Magnum) The first vintage of this wine at the domaine. Medium, medium-plus colour. If the last wines had some minor departure from the aromatic script, this is clearly back on-message; mineral, some sweetness, faint coffee and quite some complexity – super. Fat texture and still relatively primary, but it’s still intense and full of mid-palate flavour. The saline minerality is fully evident in the long finish – and it’s an excellent finish. Today it’s a massive and just vaguely monolithic experience – it might show better if there was a hint more freshness. I don’t think it will ever be noble or intricately precise, but it’s clearly built to impress.

Medium, medium-plus colour. The first vintage from Arnaud Mortet with some help in the background during harvesting from Claire Forestier. This seems a different interpretation versus what follows, but I add the caveat that this is also the youngest wine so showing the most young, fat fruit. Wide aromas of mainly dark shaded fruit and a faint hint at something volatile – at this stage, more fruit-forward than other vintages. This fills your mouth with plenty of fruity dimension and understated though balanced acidity. The almost saline, mineral quality of the other vintages starts on a much lower register though eventually begins to make its mark on the finish. The tannin seems very polished though this is the only wine here to show any oak texture on the good finish.

Medium-plus colour. The nose starts wide and darkly fruited; muscular yet coiled, slowly begins to envelop you while adding faint coffee notes – it’s never overtly oaky. In the mouth it’s decently textured, the tannin largely hidden. It’s a spicy mouthful of licorice and black olive with a very impressive if currently bitter chocolate length – no oak texture here. I expected a little more ‘impact’, but versus many from the vintage this is showing rather well – so no complaints.

(Magnum) Medium-plus colour and actually a faint shade darker than the 2005 if not quite the same level of purple reflections. The nose starts with mild 2004-specific aromas, but they build, eventually masking what is only a suggestion of concentrated fruit. This starts with enought dissolved gas to make it hard to judge – swirling reduces the problem, leaving you with a similar licorice/olive impression in the mid-palate and into the finish. There is also the 2004 flavour to martch the aromas. Impossible for me to love this.

(Magnum) Medium-plus colour to the same depth as the 2005, though with a more yellowing rim. Dark, muscular aromas are augmented with spice and licorice – becomes quite comforting and enveloping – riper but very similar to the 2005. Riper in the mouth too, but balanced. The dark fruit is still in the ascendent, but I see some red here too, also, for the first time, we have some obvious tannin structure, but the grain is fine. It is a big and quite mineral mouthful with dark, spicy and slightly saline quality of many in this series.

Medium-plus colour but a little younger looking than the 2003. The nose starts rather tight, only a few – though fine – higher tones. It’s wide and mouth-filling with a very nice impression to the slightly redder ripe fruit. Only from the mid-palate onwards comes the more typically mineral and spicy impression of previous wines. Still a bitter chocolate finish. The nose by now has added a small coffee-inflected dimension above a resonant red fruit note.

(Magnum) A medium-plus colour – slightly more mature looking. The nose is back to the 2005/2003 archetype; wide, spicy, mineral, white pepper and just maybe a hint of violets. Again this is a mouth-filler and like 2005/2003 shows the dark, mineral and slightly saline character. Super length again and at this age it has lost all trace of bitterness in the first-class finish. After a while there’s a slightly disconcerting coconut aroma, but a quick swirl dissipates it. A super bottle.