Leading off the dinner: white peaches, some flowers, citrus zest, a good bit of wood. Good, but not amazing, especially for the price.

Double decanted. Was very tight all night long, never revealing all that should be there. Some sweet fruit, the great cornucopia of scents which I usually get from Vieux Donjon were weaker than I would have expected. By the end of the night, seemed to open a little, showing some of the power and tannin. Half a bottle remains for tonight, looking forward to seeing if it finally sings...

From an imperfect specimen, with an intact cork but evidence of leakage. Very tight initially, decanted to remove loads of sediment. Beautiful Rayas profile with sweet raspberry, pipe tobacco, and sandlewood, almost reminiscent of ruby port. Cashmere texture. Never seemed to fully open--compared with a bottle of the 1989, which was open and joyous, this bottle was much more restrained. Perhaps it was the bottle's condition, but this example was not a 100 point wine. To be able to have the 1989 and 1990 within the same year was quite a treat!

Another great showing for this wine. Big, meaty syrah character, with some olives, woodsmoke, and some earth. Great focus and power. A big change of pace after the two Chateauneuf-du-Papes, but not so powerful as to obliterate them.