Opened 2 yours before the first pour. Medium colour – ruby but still with cherry-red accents. The nose is deeper and darker than that of the Bonnes-Mares, but less wide. Slowly in the glass the aromas gain width and dimension – I would say very fine. In the mouth my first impression is that it’s a little hard and tight; in tandem with the nose it slowly unwinds, softens and adds width. Another wine where the tannin hardly warrants a mention, though the quality of the wide and creamy finish was streets ahead of the Bonnes-Mares. In this context it was a fine wine, but one that didn’t ‘wow’.

Splash decanted 15 minutes before drinking. Medium cherry/ruby red – the colour’s a little intermediate, but not much fading. The nose starts a little ‘solid’ plenty of ashy oak taking at least an hour to release the creamy red fruit – it’s good but not great. The palate is medium intensity with a spectacular finish, creamy and long, long, long. Most likely serves me right for opening at this age but I would have liked something to be happening in the mid-palate… Lovely balance – elegance over power, nice unobtrusive tannin and a real peacock’s tail of a finish, but this left me looking for just that bit extra. Excellent but as said, not yet great…