Mid brown. Quite a nutty brown sugar nose. Less fragrant with some air. Sweet caramel attack and then plenty of bite through the mid-palate. Grip even. Long. Smooth finish. No heat here. Very drinkable. ****

Oily, fruity, very fragrant. An extrovert. Presumably a flashy Albariño, though out of context it could be Gewurtztraminer etc. turns out to be Mallorcan Malvasia. Slightly metallic edge to the dry finish. Full, interesting and good, but not my cup of tea. ***

Slightly oily, waxy lanolin. Nicely dry after quite a ripe and padded mid-palate. Mid weight. Ripe and rich through the middle. Very decent in a slightly showy manner. ****

A heavier, waxy lanolin character on the nose cf the 96 Res. More mineral and linear on the palate, showing a little more age and tradition. Dense. A brooding power. Very mellow and smooth and poised. Lovely. Lots of depth here. Lovely texture too. ****1/2

Double decanted 2 hrs apparently. A little high toned initially, with a touch of varnish.fresh and nicely polished on the attack. Silky through the middle. Plenty of interest here but not quite in the same league as recent bottles of 62 and 64. My red otn. ****

Fresher, red fruited nose, a little dusty. Brighter palate with a bit of bite. Almost a sense of it needing more time. Still some bite here. Brig acidity too. ****

Nicely beefy, slightly spicy nose. Muddy garnet. Lots of sediment. A touch rustic. Doesn't feel in the best of conditions - maybe a little cooked but probably just the sediment. A pale shadow of how this can be. Not from the Majestic source apparently. Some interest. ***

Sweet, brightest red fruit, nicely mellow. A touch of vanilla and spice. Quite harmonious. Showing as well as previously. ****

Quite high toned. A bit volatile. Good acidity. A little prickle. Some coconut/vanilla after a while on the nose, but this is quite tight and less forthcoming than a 94 last month. Feels very young. Tight velvet. Needs time. ***(*)

Full garnet. Silky smooth nose of red fruit, the faintest touch of soy and honey. Mellow and smooth, elegant. Lots of interest but all in a minor key. Starts to thin with air. Losing some padding on the finish and the nose drops off too. This bottle probably better a decade ago. (*)***

Smoky, mellow, smooth. Lovely texture. Tightly/densely silky. Still good acidity and a bit of bite on the finish. Tending towards the international. ****

Denser, slightly darker on the nose cf the 85. Dense and chewy. High acidity. Tannin too I think, and more so than the fruit. Hmm. **(*1/2)?

Volatile, slightly rubbery nose. A bit rubbery, high toned, disjointed, dry. Really not too pleasant. Dry tannins have overtaken the slightly confused fruit on the finish. Not for me. Bare ** with the right food.

Some similarities with the rubbery 03, though whereas one was down wind of that, we're slightly upwind here. Reasonable balance, a pinch of raspberry fruit, but I think this is going through a phase - a couple of bottles in 2006 were so much nicer. ***

Curious dark, stinky nose. South African rubber from the bad old days. Blue black fruit. Smooth, a touch jammy. Thick. This should be labelled Malbec. Ribena is cheaper. Again, this could show reasonably with the right food, but coming at the end of an evening of mature Rioja is doing this no favours. ***

PX! Not quite a viscous, dense and demanding as an EN La Bota, but a little more so than the very drinkable Casa Inca bottlings. Sweet (surprise!), typical caramel and liquid Christmas pud.mid viscosity. Long. ****