Medium-plus cherry-red colour. A deeply ripe red-fruit nose; it flirts with being porty but just-about avoids this tragedy – though I’m concerned that with time it might fall from the tightrope it currently walks. The palate is soft and concentrated with a burst of tannin in the mid-palate, the finish slowly fades. The concentration and extract are self-evident and are well-judged, but it’s hard to find the complexity given the density of its current demenour. Clean and well made, one more stays in the cellar to see how this develops – clearly a 2003.