I double decanted the bottle then left it in the refrigerator for 1 hour as my room temp was about 28°. Medium, medium-plus colour though still cherry-red. The nose still manages to open up with a dark, reductive, slightly toasty oak impression – but it stays in the glass for less than 5 minutes. Slowly it builds a width of creamy, macerating morello cherry aromas, ever-so slowly adding depth with time – very faint herbs overlay the fruit and eventually a little toffee. In the mouth the first word that comes to my mind is unctuous as the sweet fruit wraps around your tongue, though the fruit’s smiling face turns to a frown as the tannin begins to assert itself – it’s like fine sand in texture but far from astringent. The acidity is on a relatively low level so it both dulls the mid-palate (no extra dimension) and adds little to the slightly earthy, salty finish. Unctuous, but I can’t say succulent – there’s just not the freshness for that – I honestly found the second glass a chore. For all that, it’s rather a concentrated and serene wine and about the best 03 I’ve tried recently from the 1er/grand cru levels, I’m also convinced that the pretty fruit will further improve, but I’m not convinced it will ever (for my taste) overcome the shortcoming of the acidity…