The colour is quite deep, but showing plenty of age with a little mahogany cast. The nose is complex with high and low tones; ash, coconut, deeper faintly reductive notes and some sweetness of fruit at its core. Excellent acidity though with a late metallic impression. Decent length, resolved tannin and some reasonable sweet fruit. Interesting and more balanced than the the last time out, less marked by the oak, though the base is still obvious.apparently thickens with concentration. If you’re immune to the 2004 cedar it’s a buy.

Medium-plus ruby-red colour. The nose still shows plenty of woodsmoke and a trace of ash – time in the glass brings higher tones and fainter red fruits to fill the scene. Very good texture with a real extra dimension of creamy black fruit on the mid-palate and into a finish that still shows a little bitter oak. The oak is far from dominant on the palate but is still a loud voice. The tannins remain grainy and a little astringent. For my taste the oak is one or two notches too high – still.

Medium-plus ruby-red colour. The nose starts with lots of char effects and cigarette ash – not particularly appealing. Given time (needs 2 hours) the fruit becomes purer and coffee edged – plums and macerated red cherry. Very nicely textured with good acidity and high-toned fruit, the tannins have some grain if you chew long enough. The finish has an edge of licorice with medium-plus length for the cru. Thirty minutes of air is all that’s needed for this to show very well.

Medium-plus colour, still quite primary. The nose has spicy, meaty black fruit with a touch of licorice. The palate shows a similarly black aspect, nice acidity and smooth tannins. The finish is surprisingly long with a hint of earthy, minerally cream. An obvious winemaking signature at work, but a tasty wine all the same.

Frankly I’m amazed! This wine was just so full of toasty oak – of which I’m not enamoured – when released, that it took close to 36 hours to reach the limits of my drinkability. Today you’d never know, the toast is in the background and there’s a faint, sweet, coffee tinged, black skinned fruit note in its place. The colour is a deep cherry red, no fading or browning. The palate has real concentration, good acidity and very well mannered tannins. The wine’s currently showing in a subdued and primary way. One to leave – fortunately, I’ve 10 more to go.

Dark garnet/purple. Very toasty oak nose (oh dear!) – I can’t really get past this. Soft and supple in the mouth, despite being quite dense. Straight from the bottle this is deeply disappointing to me, there seems to be balance of acidity and tannin, apparently with some fruit too, but I can’t get at it for the wood. One hour (of occasional swirling) later, the nose is starting to exhibit the creaminess of French oak – more wood, but at least it’s becoming more subtle! I’m also starting to pick up black cherry. As we move on to the 3 hour mark, there is a transition through ‘real toast’ smells to something much more opulent and interesting. So after 24 hours under vacuvin we are starting to get somewhere; the oak is just in the background now, black cherry and even blackcurrant, a little spice and the smell of soil. Palate is still nice and supple, but the acidity seems a bit more aggressive. Very long creamy oak finish. This wine has excellent potential, though I won’t try another for at least 3 years, and it’s likely I’ll still have to decant a couple of hours before consuming.