The colour raises suspicious eyebrows – medium golden – but despite slightly heavy fruit aromas at first, the nose is rather clean and there’s not a trace of oxidation. A little swirling reveals rather young, mainly pineapple, fruit – a good start then. Nice texture, acidity that unobtrusively shepherds you through to the finish and a little extra mid-palate dimension. In its current adolescence the amplitude of the peaks and troughs of this wine have been squeezed a little since it was bought, but that’s what you get when talking to adolescents! Drunk over 4 consecutive nights without a hint of oxidation, and confidence renewed, I’ll wait another 5 or 6 years before taking another look.

Medium yellow. The nose is a nice blend of leesy, deep creamy notes and overlaying higher-toned, sweeter notes of subtle pineapple. The palate shows real intensity to the fruit and is coupled to super acidity – finishes with a real flourish. To be honest the intensity becomes wearing, but I’m drinking this way too young. Keep it cool as there’s a loss of focus when the temperature rises, otherwise this is a super wine in terms of both presentation and value – and now there’s a case in my cellar! Apparently the 2002 has a little extra ripeness and a little lower acidity, so sounds less likely to gain a place in my cellar – but you never know.