Medium-plus colour. The nose has depth and almost texture; sometimes when you have brett there’s a texture impression, and I have it here, but it seems clean enough. The fruit is dark and occasionally gives flashes of brilliance. It’s fresh and intense, keep it in your mouth and it becomes even more intense as the acidity penetrates your tongue. The tannin really only shows itself – and mildly – from the mid-palate into the finish and as a slightly bitter but flavour adhering additive – hmm, licorice I think. Actually there is more flavour in the finish than you get at the start – it really builds and builds. Overall – full-packed, hinting to rustic but full of interest and I might even say fun! If the nose didn’t slowly develop a more floral and pretty ‘whole’ I don’t think you’d ever have ‘Chambolle’ as your first guess – I suppose that’s the proximity to Bonnes-Mares for you. I’m happy to have a couple of larger format bottles to work through from 2020 onwards!

Medium, medium-plus colour. So effusive once the cork is popped, it’s like you’re back in the barrel cellar with forward red and black fruit that is softened at the edges with a sweet, faintly brulee’d note – primary but very gorgeous. In the mouth it has lost some of that barrel ‘padding’, but you have good intensity, equally good acidity and a reasonable amount of structure; the tannin is there and whilst velvety, has the merest trace of astringency. Slowly lingering, this is super – it’s perhaps more structured than when last tasted (and ordered!) and I’d recommend that you leave it in the cellar, but the fruit is gorgeous.