A lovely medium-plus ruby red colour – still just a hint of cherry red at the rim. The nose starts just a little meaty and beetrooty – not so great – but soon there is creamy black cherry but with a hint of reduction, finally it becomes redder, softer, more floral and much more interesting. This wine equals the concentration of the Bonnes-Mares but with a totally different and much more elegant personality. The tannins are in there somewhere, but the super-smooth, high quality fruit is the main attribute. The finish is borne on nicely judged acidity and again hints towards cream-edged black cherry – oh and it’s excellent – really long. Very young, but this is a wine I should perhaps have gone for the ‘full 12′ rather than the 6, it’s also more ‘honest’ about the vintage than the Bonnes-Mares was; obviously ripe with understated acidity and just a little plump. Versus the 1999 at the same time last year this is all the more interesting, elegant and drinkable – the 99 probably needs 10+ years to excite.

Medium-plus ruby red. The nose is about primary black-edged fruit and a strong spicy/cedar and mineral component – eventually you can get at a tight core of red currant/berry fruit plus a little cooked meat. The palate is still quite linear with a concentrated but mineral showing and plenty of slightly grainy but ripe tannin. Good acidity, the finish doesn’t seem amazingly long, but this is a very primary showing – good if rather brawny stuff – no need to recheck for another 5 years.

Given the primary showing of the 1999 I though it would be good to compare it to this more mature bottle – wrong. Same colour, same nose, same flavours, same apparent level of maturity. Hmm – I think it will be a long wait for those 1999’s! Actually the nose is a little more fruit driven and the texture is silkier – but not such a difference for 8 more years in the cellar.

Disappointed then impressed, then disappointed again. Disappointed that I’ve opened this too young, impressed by how young this wine still is, then disappointed because of taint. The colour still shows a little cherry-red hue to the deep core, moving to ruby at the rim. The nose starts both wide and deep, reminiscent of the 2001, but soon turns a little metallic and slowly an edge of taint develops. Palate is both nicely balanced and deep – but taint for certain.

From the get-go, this is a more interesting wine than the Bonnes-Mares. More of everything vs how the Bonnes-Mares started. There’s a really cracking creamy depth to the fruit (I waited for 90 minutes in a decanter) that sustains an excellent finish, the tannins are softer but still large-scale. Today I marginally prefer the peaking Bonnes-Mares, as by the last sip it outstrips this RSV – looks like an interesting match-up over the next few years – I’ll have another look in 4 or 5 years.

Mature looking but with sufficient deep colour to make the age hard to determine. The nose . . . . . chocolate cherry liqueurs(!) and really sweet, almost intoxicating. The palate, still has really good acidity and lots of furry tannin. Tons of depth to the fruit, with the finish continuing to develop for the first hour the bottle was open. Worth much more than the €58 paid – outstanding – and years of life ahead of it.