Pale golden in color, with pleasingly persistent bubbles and a rich texture. Mature, with a toasted, earthy nose and a nutty, apricot essence on the palate. A bit light on the finish, but a wonderful, nostalgic treat.

Easily exceeded my admittedly ignorant expectations, with a lush texture and crisp acidity at the same time. Plenty of fruit, and a pleasing salinity. Paired beautifully with a garlicky grilled octopus starter. An impressive bottle for sure.

An earthy Burgundy with a robustness I appreciated. I found this quite approachable and doubt it changes much in the coming years. Notes of smokey pit fruit and something akin to moss (stems?), with a good backbone and medium finish.

A big disappointment, highly extracted and jammy (amply dosed with residual sugar?), almost defiantly "New World" but cloying and imbalanced.

Lighter in color than I expected, and very fresh on the palate, with fine typicity featuring dark fruits, mild herbs and a touch of mushroom. A very good showing for the vintage, based on its richness and decent structure. I made the mistake of suggesting we chill it a touch, though, and this shocked the wine to sleep -- my bad.

Decanted for barely an hour before we gave in and started nursing this, the wine immediately evoked St. Estephe in appearance, aroma and taste. This is an elegant Bordeaux that seems very much ready to be enjoyed. The merlot component was very evident from the get-go. Cedar dominated on the nose. The texture on the palate was memorably rich and structured, with sweet tannins and spice. I did not note much evolution through the evening, though that may be best explained by the amount of other wines we sampled...

A very straightforward blend with ripe fruit that showed no sign of fading. Plenty of acidity to match our steaks, but no real structure or complexity.

I found this nearly undrinkable, with over-the-top sweetness and little backbone. Others were more forgiving, though none found it inspiring. I'll revisit in a few years, but the undesired characteristics that put me off are not of the nature that one would expect time to cure.

The wine delivered an outstanding experience even at this relatively early stage. Notes of sugared pineapple and honey combine with floral characteristics and impressive acidity. The lingering finish always brings a smile to my face. The flavors are not yet fully integrated, and I can foresee a potential for a higher score being merited in 5 or so years. In the meantime, this could make for a great aperitif or serve it as a dessert accompaniment while waiting to develop more complexity.