Deep colour. The nose is forward, indeed assertive, it’s quite deep too but has a roast character to go with the darker fruit. On the positive side, the last drops in the glass are beguiling. In the mouth this is concentrated, reasonably intense too but doesn’t really come across as a ‘whole wine’. The acidity is a little spiky, in-fact a long way from seemless. Is it the storage or has there been a little mucking-about in the winemaking(?) I certainly have the impression that it may have been less than successfully acidified. Shame in either, or both cases.

A slight update to the label for this vintage. Only just a little more than medium colour. Wide, quite high-toned floral, violet aromatics, underneath a more cherry-type fruit. The palate is soft, slightly fat and shows good fruit that’s edged with a little bitter chocolate / coffee. A reasonable amount of decently grained tannin – perhaps not 100% ripe given a trace of bitterness, but tannin fades. Good acidity and a very nice burst of interest in the mid-palate. Drunk over 3 days it was just a little better each day and the only thing lost was that bitter edge to the tannin. A very nice 2006.

A slight update to the label for this vintage. Only just a little more than medium colour. Wide, quite high-toned floral, violet aromatics, underneath a more cherry-type fruit. The palate is soft, slightly fat and shows good fruit that’s edged with a little bitter chocolate / coffee. A reasonable amount of decently grained tannin – perhaps not 100% ripe given a trace of bitterness, but tannin fades. Good acidity and a very nice burst of interest in the mid-palate. Drunk over 3 days it was just a little better each day and the only thing lost was that bitter edge to the tannin. A very nice 2006.

Medium-plus colour. The nose starts with a wild brambly black fruit – slowly goes deeper with faint caramel. Wide and intense – again with dark-hued fruit. Reasonably well-packaged tannin and very good length though the tannin resurfaces here. It’s still brusque and bruising in its intensity so will need a few years in the cellar – but I will buy a few for the ride.

Deep colour. The nose is an impressively wide and sweet affair tempered by a faintly spicy and understated vanilla, slowly it releases flashes of red and black fruits. In the mouth it’s less sweet than the nose suggests, even just a little tart. The tannin is well textured but perhaps in the finish is just a little bitter. Understated acidity still leaves your mouth watering and there’s reasonable length too. This wine seems to have a miss-match of parts, but might be worth a bottle or two in the cellar.

Medium, medium-plus cherry-red. The nose hovers close to fantastic – beautiful red berry fruit edged with cream – but from time to time there’s a rather powder and indistinct edge, the wine could never quite make up its mind. The palate is nicely textured with good intensity and acidity. The tannins are well covered with sweet fruit and a lovely creamy edge to the finish too. There was no sign of green in this wine, but one-third of the bottle lay in the fridge overnight; the nose is now earthy with a strong cedar streak – no red fruit and ‘no love’!

Deep colour. The starts with a blast of camphor/menthol, slowly turns to cedar and opens out with high-toned red berry fruit and just a hint of volatility – eventually widens – becomes super. The first mouthful leaves little impression, save for a lovely penetrating length and a certain smoothness. Linear fruit, slightly grainy tannin and acidity that is just a trace tart. If the palate develops as well as the nose, this is on the buy list.

Deep colour. The starts with a blast of camphor/menthol, slowly turns to cedar and opens out with high-toned red berry fruit and just a hint of volatility – eventually widens – becomes super. The first mouthful leaves little impression, save for a lovely penetrating length and a certain smoothness. Linear fruit, slightly grainy tannin and acidity that is just a trace tart. If the palate develops as well as the nose, this is on the buy list.