The nose delivers a blast of red fruit, a little confiture and perhaps a sprig of mint too. Narrow and very mineral – just a very long line of flavour that runs right through the wine. This was picked late but there is no obvious dimension of ‘sweet’ to the wine – very fine for the vintage!

A much deeper colour. The nose offers density without ‘heft’. Wide, concentrated yet somehow balanced – post-swallowing there is a really intense finish. Quite open – I’m surprised – but a wine for the ages…

The nose is finer with precise red berries. Fresher than the young vines cuvée with super mid-palate fruit. This has the impression of being more mineral. Still plenty of tannin here.

Really beautiful fruit aromas that are edged with herbs. Lots of structure but still the fruit bubbles below. Very long – one to keep.

A deep, young colour in the glass. An extra portion of herbs brings padding to the deep, slightly tight fruit. Fresh, structure is slightly ahead of the fruit, but there’s lovely complexity here and a very sneaky length…

(Magnum) The nose is more interesting than the the rather ‘harder’ and stand-offish stance this wine often shows; high-toned with plenty of dried fruits – more interesting that the standard 1997 ‘roasted’ fruits – plus freshness and depth. The palate is sweet with grainy tannin and is very long finishing. It’s clearly a very young, but surprised me in that there is more charachter here than I find in many vintages of this wine.

Medium-plus colour. A wild and impressive nose at the start; oak, a little blood, interesting width, but slowly the oak becomes a little more dominant and the joy fades. Much more subtle entry than the Lejeune Rugiens, a little more tannin but it’s also more linear and focused. Equally potent in the mid-palate and more obvious length – though some of that is, for sure, oak. More depth, but today also less interest than the Lejeune.

This year it was 27 hl/ha and an elevage of ~55% new oak. A normal vinification of 28 days (remember those lunar cycles…) including a cold soak followed by pigeages. The nose has depth rather than width. A super palate that’s both concentrated and ripe yet well balanced. Very lovely and has a late grab from the tannins just as you’re contemplating the finish.

31 hl/ha with just a little less new oak. High-toned less forwardly ripe than the 2002, mixing mineral notes with the redder fruit. Lush, concentrated palate, tannins are similar to the ’02 but perhaps a little less ripe though the fruit buffers beautifully. This will need more time than the 02. In Benjamin’s opinion the 02 says more today about the vintage than the Clos, whereas the 01 is all about the Clos