The nose is instantly brighter, redder and more ’round’. Softer and perhaps less precise but with an intense and persistent weight of fruit at its centre. The palate is full-wrapped velvet, though despite the fineness of these ripe tannins I’m a little concerned by their abundance. This wine is quite different to the GE, with even more extract that leads to a drying impression into the finish – full-on, rather than graceful and the flavours don’t quite etch into the palate like those of the GE. Looking to the long-term, there is a cool and concentrated quality to the fruit and the tannin will anyway lessen with time, and the glass was also emptied rather easily!