Medium rusty-red. The nose is a blend of stemmy perfume – and at this age it really is perfume – and a higher-toned fresh plum fruit that flirts with a floral dimension; it’s quite lovely and keeps drawing me back for another sniff as the fruit changes to cherry and even redcurrant with time. In the mouth it doesn’t quite have that melt-in-the-mouth texture that you get with a perfectly matured wine, but there’s freshness and a structure that remains bright, indeed almost stern. The acidity is just about perfect, being the baseline for a beautifully understated but fine finish. Such a shame that I have only three or four more of these.

Medium ruby-red colour with a faint browning at the rim. The nose is sweet and rather stemmy, there’s a faint beefy note that has me flirting with the notion of brett, and some mixed herbs. In the mouth the wine starts narrow, slowly opening over tongue. The acidity is a little sharp and metallic in flavour, it makes you forget to look for tannin, which whilst understated, is still a little blocky. Reasonable length and some sweetness, but today, no love.