Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose is wide, and reasonably deep – lovely warm red fruit aromas that are edged with a little green seasoning – eventually the nose fills with floral top-notes too, aromatically this gets better and better, peaking after about 90 minutes. In the mouth there’s good acidity and extra density, hence, texture too after the Mugnier. Much less ‘ephemeral’ than the Mugnier but here is much more flavour and dimension, indeed there’s a core of density that implies a few more years are required to fully unwind it. Lovely wine. Very drinkable in this format today, but clearly it’s still a baby.

Medium-plus ruby-red colour. The nose is high-toned and wide with a pronounced meaty/savoury aspect – characterful but it didn’t work for me. The main impression from the palate is the acidity – forward but quite soft. The wine is certainly intense and long, but at this stage in its development the aroma and flavour profile don’t endear it to me – more of a spotty adolescent than mature interest. Previous bottles have been much nicer so I will give this the benefit of the doubt. Remaining bottles will not be touched in the next 3-4 years…

Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose is fresh, slightly minty but just a little jammy – raspberry jam. On the palate there’s classic 96 fruit/acidity balance, in this case relatively sweet fruit. Not the depth or concentration of the Castagnier Clos Saint Denis that preceded it but the length is comparable. Anyway, this was a beauty.