Medium, medium-plus ruby-red. The nose is wild and interesting; savoury and fecund maybe even a licorice edge, yet there is tight core of red fruit too that will need more time to fully blossom. This wine shows the most tannin of the 4 Castagniers, faintly drying but leaving a fine, soft coating on your teeth. Really intense, the concentration does a great job of balancing the acidity. The palate is quite backward though perhaps not so much as the Bonnes-Mares. A super nose, the palate just needs another 3-5 years to catch up. Will be super.

Medium-plus core of ruby only fading slightly at the rim. The nose starts with a little oak, slowly settling down to a dense red cherry fruit, slightly powdery but little else showing. The palate shows fine tannins that slowly build and very good acidity. Tightly presented, intense fruit, deep but still quite primary. Tasty enough now, but I’m really looking forward to tasting this again in another 3+ years.

The colour is medium-plus ruby, not quite as developed as the Charmes. The nose shows a trace of oak and also a trace of the cooked note of the previous two Castagniers – but on a much lower register. The fruit is higher toned showing a little redcurrant above the cherry which itself sits above a meaty coffee note. The wine shows in a fresher and more aloof (I wouldn’t go as far as saying austere) manner than the Charmes but with a very impressive length. The acidity is just right and the tannin is thick and velvetty. This is a very good young wine.

Deep cherry red colour. Pure cherry but not the penetrating cordial nose of the ‘Charmes’ Much more subdued in character too despite it’s concentration. Good acidity and more noticeable tannic structure – very smooth mind! So, equally concentrated but a little more austere in presentation. A perfectly good, though not an outstanding example.