The nose is deep and faintly musky – plenty of width too – higher tones come next with some flowers. Very fine tannin, red fruit and an intensity that builds. Mouthwatering with a reprise of flavour just when you think it’s all done – this time with a hint of vanilla.

Deeper fruit, again a hint of musk that blend with flashed of red fruit. Fresher and apparently more (obviously) structured than the Clos du Roi. Grows in intensity – the flavour growing in tandem. Really hold its finish – excellent!

Floral notes over a dark, fresh cherry base. Sweet and silky – plush without being fat. There’s plenty of structure though it’s mainly buried. Good energy too. Very good.

I wasn’t going to rush to open one of these, but given the relatively poor performance of the 2000 ‘Cras‘, I felt compelled to. Medium, medium-plus colour. Warm, ripe aromas with a hint of spice but without any loss of elegance and still a decent focus. Nicely mouth-filling, excellently textured and with understated, though sufficient, acidity. Decent depth of fruit and the faintest residue of tannin – only one complaint; there’s a hint of cola flavour that I don’t think appropriate for Clos de Vougeot. The finish is elegantly long. Neither a powerhouse nor a wine of mind-bending dimension – you might say not a great grand cru then, but this is a beautifully judged middle-weight that is in a very nice place at the moment. Most villages wines now cost more than I paid for this – I’d buy a dozen without a moment’s hesitation if I could pay the same price!

There’s an extra width on the nose and a subdued lower register of dense fruit. Again, lovely texture to the tannins but this time they are more concentrated. Plenty of oak texture and flavour on the finish, but this will fade. Classic Clos de Vougeot, just a little austere but bags of potential.