Ooh – here’s a forward nose – lots of volume – with plenty of herb in a large expanse of complexity. Cushioned depth to the palate, considerable concentration, still a grain of tannin. Layered, intense, with waves of flavour, faintly bitter and saline. Never a sweet wine, never a comforting wine – but frankly who cares, this is really super, indeed invigorating stuff.
Medium mahogany red. The nose has a hint of leaf but also the warm, slightly sweet aromas of age – it seems quite clean. Still some astringency to what was probably quite under-ripe tannin in its youth and a hesitant sweetness to the fruit – though I have the impression it didn’t give up much sweetness for a lot of years. Grand Cru? Hard to tell, I’ll just say it’s an interesting, clean, fresh and drinkable bottle, it’s not a faux-pas.
(Mazis-bas) Medium, medium-plus colour. Big, open aromas edged with toast – initially needs more focus. More tannin, but not astringent and some dark barrel flavours that dovetail to fresh, dark fruit. I think that this is also not showits best, but there is a real underlying sense that this is a very serious wine.
Dark, indeed saturated colour – the first such wine. Super-concentrated aromatics with just a hint of over-ripe, roast fruit (the second wine with this). The acidity is covered by the fruit extract and shows a deft touch to keep such concentration in balance. From colour and concentration I’d assumed that this might be a little overblown – but not so, it’s a very nice wine that will certainly require extended cellaring, only the aromatics provided a hint of disappointment.
Medium, medium-plus colour. A wide, not so deep but mineral nose. Very slowly the nose develops a creamy depth that’s coupled to lovely red fruit – this is now very pretty. Simple entry on the palate, but perfect balance and super if understated length. A very lovely wine despite the tight presentation.
Medium, medium-plus colour – some purple reflections. Despite the description of the oak regime here, this starts deep and toasty. A swirl releases dark-skinned fruit and over time it transforms to a more floral and spicy effect. The texture is rather good with some fat and plenty of well-covered and well-mannered tannin. There’s a burst of interest in the mid-palate helped by the acidity. Finally there’s the nice finish. Not a blockbuster, but nice fruit.
A shade lighter in colour and more of a ruby-colour. No toast aromas this time, but a wide profile of red and black fruits that are shaded more to the red versus the 2002. The fruit and tannins are a little less ripe than the 02, in particular the tannins – but they are far from green astringency! The fruit flavour is more obvious in the mid-palate and finish when contrasted to the 2002. Nice, but don’t pair it with a much riper wine.
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