I thought this was good, but still too youthful to be fully enjoyed. It certainly had a very nice nose, starting with steely, seashelly mineral notes, and then a touch of green mango and lemon on a base of lanolin, honey and white fruit aromas. The palate came across as very young however. The chief characteristics of the wine were its lining of flinty mineral, almost a bit bittersweet here, and some really fresh acidity that zipped through the palate. Apart from that, one got a rather subtle spectrum of white fruit and citrus lemon touched with just the tiniest hint of honey and tropical fruit - in other words, not the most expressive, even a bit austere when drank by itself. It came across as very correct, precise, with good weight and lots of stuffing, but it was a bit tough to drink at the moment, only getting fleshier and more generous with time in the glass and food on our plates. The finish was very minerally again, showing more flint, seashell and some fruit peel notes as the wine drifted away. At the moment, there is quality here without great pleasure. It should get better with time as the palate develops to meet the more expressive notes on the nose though.

Joly's Coulée de Serrant can be a bit of a lucky draw, but we won big with this bottle. This showed wonderfully well, so well in fact that it was probably one of the best wines of the night. It started out with an intriguingly complex nose, running from sweet scents of mango and lychee creme, to honey, marmalade and sweet tangerine fruit, and then slightly musky flowery notes, think chamomile or potpourri - and a drift of Chinese white almond accents - lovely stuff. A rather sweet bouquet, so we all expected the palate to have some corresponding residual sugar, but it actually turned out to be quite dry indeed. Somehow, in spite of some obvious complexity that quite matched the nose, it was surprisingly a bit uninspiring when drank alone. However, it was another story entirely when paired with food. The wine showed a chameleon-like ability to go with almost anything, from tomatoes to hen's egg and truffle and from prawns to sardines, opening up dramatically on the palate with ripe but never quite sweet tones of honey and orange marmalade alongside clearly tropical notes of lychee and rambutan on the attack. As the wine moved through the midpalate, the fruit was layered with a gentle wash of spice, almond nut and dried mangoes. Clearly ripe, rather botrytised but balanced with a very nice acidity, it came across somewhat like a dry-Sauternes, just quite a bit fresher and more focused. Brilliantly enjoyable, this blew the competition in its flight away.

I was not quite sure whether this could be called flawed. There was certainly a touch of oxidation, but it did not change the fact that the wine was very good and very much enjoyed. The nose showed a slightly salty, oxidative tang on first sniff, opening up with browning apples and pears and a touch of figs. Not unattractive, but a little distracting. The palate was really nice though, starting with rich appley goodness on the attack, again a little browning at the edges, but rather less so than on the nose, and then the midpalate fanned out in a vista of honeyed flavours, showing sweet apple flesh, honeyed pears and some slightly citrussy lemon flavours, all wrapped in a warm, round lushness and flecked with a bit of spice. No lack of depth and beautifully balanced all the way, this was really very nice. While I did not enjoy it all that much at first given the oxidative whiffs, it opened up nicely into fresh, delicious package.

I thought this was very yummy. It had an orangey colour that suggested a bit more age, but the rest of it was very youthful. On the nose, it showed seashell, umami soy sauce notes and, most of all, very fresh Sunkist orangey aromas laced with a hint of wool at the edges. Very nice. The palate was solid too. It had a lovely, luscious attack, rather wooly but also stocked with sweet orange marmalade and honey flavours that were met by a good bit of nicely judged acidity. Pass that, some very Japanese accents of of sweet soy sauce, mirin and dashi stock, all rather umami showed up before the finish filled in with a mouthful of spice and an orange peel note. With food, an interestingly nutty, rice crispy-like note showed up. Not exactly the most complex, but this was rich, full, generous and very enjoyable.

This was wonderful. We all loved it when blinded, and all thought it had a lot of age on it. But even then, we were all soundly shocked when it was unveiled - it drank like a wine a good two decades younger than its 60 years. No complaints though, this was the wine of the night for me. It had an incredibly complex nose, gently drifting out of the glass in a melange of toffee, burnt caramel, roasted almonds and honey, a waft of musky flowers, and then lovely scents of peaches and apples flecked with just the littlest touch of oxidation. Beautiful. I loved the palate too. A bit less complex than the nose perhaps, but it had a lovely warm roundness to it and an almost melting texture as spread across the mouth with honeyed tones of yellow dates, sweet lemons and pears and a little bit of spice. Not exactly the greatest complexity, but it certainly was not simple and there was beautiful integrated depth to whatever it showed. A really long and wonderfully detailed finish rounded the wine off on a high note - super fresh, super-cut, almost laser-like, it filled the back-palate with dollops of mouthwatering acidity that stretched the wine on and on and on. Given the age on this, there was just a metallic touch around the edges and it was a bit leaner than the 2003 Jo Pithon on the same flight. However, this was much more elegant and far more compelling - a wine in a completely different class.

A lovely wine, just put a bit in the shadows by a stunning 1951 we had alongside. Strangely enough, this came across very old, even older than the '51, with a glowing orangey amber colour that certainly spoke of its age. A weaker vintage perhaps. The nose smelt older too, with ever unfolding aromas of seashells and gentle minerality, yellow plums, orange peel and honeyed marmalade notes, and then some potpourri hints, a bit of spice, a touch of lanolin - absolutely beguiling stuff, just layers and layers of complexity on this. The palate was really profound as well. There was still some sweetness to it, but this was wed to a lovely fresh acidity that kept the wine on its tippy-toes. What really impressed me though was the wonderful spectrum of flavours, moving from toasty yellow fruit, figs, apples et al into a seashelly metally minerality back-palate and then a final little lift of spice at the very finish. This was beautiful. Not quite as layered or richly generous as the 1951 perhaps, but this was an enchanting wine in its own right. A real treat.

The first of a lovely pair of back-to-back vintages, this was an excellent wine. A sweet nose here, with honeycomb and nectar dripped over some lanolin, flowers, toasted nuts and touches of spice with just a bit of umami at the very edges of the bouquet. Very attractive, but the palate was even better. It was drinking beautifully. Rich and layered, it showed delicious flavours of honeyed figs and caramelised apples and pears. Sweet, generous, but also incredibly balanced, almost mind-bogglingly so, and superbly integrated. A harmonious wine. I could imagine this being a bit too sweet, rather primary, maybe not too complex in its youth, but at this stage of its development, the sweetness has come down somewhat to match the somewhat less than zippy acidity and some secondary notes have started to emerge, making it such a lovely drink.

Drank together with the 1996, this was so very different, yet every bit as good in its own way. For one thing, there was a lot more fruit here than on the 1995, especially on the nose, which showed - rich, honeyed, caramelly tones, a touch of wool and then a nice burst of fig and pear aromas. Really nice, rich stuff. The palate very nice too. It had less acidity than on the 1995, perhaps less of the elegant balance the older wine showed, but this was round, lush and very yummy, showing wonderfully rich flavours of honey, poached pears and red apples spiked with some sugar and spice. It had a lovely long finish too, with some cinamon and cloves mingling with the rest of the wine's dulcet tones. Beautiful.