Magnum. Light gold, deepening slightly in the glass. Proper nose. Composed. A touch of oatmeal. Nicely GC weight with a sense of viscosity. Yellow fruit. Mellow and smooth. Initially this lacks a little length, and the nose comes and goes a bit, but after 90mins this is top notch. Singing. *****

Light gold. A little less dense than the 93 Batard, though it does fill out. Really quite spicy on the nose, some oak evident. A little more youthful drive and more mineral line and zip on the finish. Fills and becomes more rich with air. Nose flits between volatility and creamy smoothness before settling down to something more defined. Lots of interest but really needs time to meld. **(**1/2)

Magnum. Pale gold. Mineral, a touch of florality. More lithe and elegantly fruited but without the gravitas of the GCs. Very pretty indeed. ****

Nicely rich on the nose. Ripe with a touch of sous bois. Definitely autumnal. Benefits initially from being served cool. Focuses up nicely with air and starts to show a brighter red fruited core. ***1/2 to ****

Nicely bright ruby. Cleaner and purer on the nose. Brighter. Tart red fruit. Nice line. Quite bright. Still a little tight but this is showing far more composure and pedigree than a couple of bottles in 2013. Really quite impressive. ***(*)

Full garnet. Akin to the 97 but a little more relaxed and feral even. Caramel too. With air this fattens and sweetens and shows more generously than the nose might have led one to expect. A touch of exuberance even. Previous bottles have been variable, but this one is top of the range so far. ****

Cooler and more restrained than the 96/97 alongside. Fine boned, but slightly humourless and aloof. A touch haughty even. Requires thought and effort, but worth it for the slightly more intellectual pleasure. Glacial. ***(*) to ***(*1/2)

Dense but dull dark red. Just a hint of garnet on the rim. Cool. Slightly minty before a restrained meatiness. Shape and line as well as depth, all in an elegant frame. Filling out a bit with air, and flattening a little. This dips and doesn’t quite maintain its early promise. All relative though. ****

Dense garnet. Nicely meaty, savoury nose. A touch of mint too. Nicely approachable. Not the penetration of the 93/96 but certainly nicely ready. Lacks some of the polish of a previous bottle, a bit softer and broader. ****

Magnum. Corton, Jadot, 98? Not nearly as bracing as one might have expected. Far from it, in fact. Very smooth and mellow and really quite complex and polished. Accomplished. However, after 30mins of so this starts to tighten and show a stewed black tea nose. It does keep fluid on the nose with orange and cranberry coming in, but the palate does seem to remain a little more taut than the initial impression. ****1/2 tightening to **(**)

Slightly mute and metallic on the nose. Seems a little more nuanced on the palate, and it does pick up. Disappointing in its context though. Not the weakest wine, but the most below par. Shame, nowhere near previous bottles of this. Bare ****