Very pale yellow colour. Perhaps it was a little cold, but this was very tight to start with. Eventually the nose starts to give up fresh apple fruit backed by cold (trifle) custard. In the mouth this is absolutely linear, firing into an understated but very long finish that has a little sweet vanilla attached. Only if you keep the wine in your mouth do you appreciate the weight of extract and feel the mid-palate intensity. This is a very tight but very good wine – to be honest I’m impressed, but I really expected to be ‘wowed’!

Very pale. Well-integrated oak notes and plenty of depth on the clean nose. Soft, concentrated and with lovely depth. There are no fireworks but tons of restrained interest. Worth the price of entry…

Pale yellow. The nose is high-toned but is also coupled to an understated depth. Concentrated and ripe in the mouth, even hinting at minerality. Good integration and long finishing. Very good.

Medium-pale lemon-yellow. A high-toned, slightly alcoholic nose that slowly turns from green to yellow-skinned fruit. The palate already shows fine, soft texture and an impressive length. Sweet from the ripe fruit with super balancing acidity. This is a very round and tasty wine that shows a modest burst of fireworks on the mid-palate. Already the oak is mainly consumed – very good Corton-Charlemagne. I’d drink this over the next 18 months and then leave the rest for 8+ years.

A young, pale colour. A wine whose aromatics major on fruit. Seems fat, but needs just a little more time as there’s still a little oak marking the palate. Gives the impression of lower acidity, but perhaps that’s due to the extra fat. Probably starting to sing as you read this – or leave until 2015+

Same colour as 2000. The wine shows a blast of fruit on the nose. The steely palate is much more mineral than the 2000 and seems to show an extra length despite less-than piercing acidity. Very drinkable today, in fact it’s a bit of a honey.

Light colour again. Again a high toned nose, slightly alcoholic. The palate is fit rather than fat, super focused Charlemagne intensity. Super texture, really nice acidity and a great finish. Few words but great wine.