Mid straw. Very vibrant. A touch of crème pat, but very red fruited. Lots of energy and a lovely shape. Fine stream of very fine bubbles. A vibrancy to the mousse. Plenty of kid-palate complexity and a bright finish. Just lovely. A splendid bottle in a perfect place. *****

Tricky one this. One senses it has the potential, but this bottle is slightly strangled by a super reductive mid-palate vice. A faint suggestion of corkiness but this blows off to reveal more of a reductive nature. A super wine viewed through slightly frosted glass. Needs time. **(**) 92

Wow, this has really stepped up in the last six years. When initially opened , quite lush, savoury and with a slightly liquorice edge. When drunk four hours later this was bright, with plush, dense red fruit. Bright ruby in colour. Primary fruit starting to soften and show some developmental complexity but so much Tauter and denser than the Rousseau alongside. This is gorgeous. Real GC density and class. Lovely. *****

Far more evolved than a bottle from the same case eighteen months ago. Mid garnet now with autumnal richness on the nose. A meatiness too soft and mellow, silky but mow about the meaty soup is rather than vibrant fruit. The tenor has become a baritone. A stylistic choice between this and the Lamarche Vougeot, but on the day the other just shades it. ****1/2

Very 78 Graves on the nose. Brett's padron peppers with a touch of lamb fat across the nose with warm gravelly cedar and tobacco providing the more bass notes. A nice vintage freshness to this. This is a step up from a bottle at the Medlar a couple of years ago. ****

Given it’s age and the probabilities of bottle variation it’s hard to imagine a better bottle of this. Bright and vribrant with a sensuously deep, velvety silliness to he plush fruit. Pitch perfect acidity to keep everything in balance. Long and inviting. Spot on. *****

Another wonderful bottle. Mid garnet. Some lushness to get fruit and a warm terracotta quality balance by good acidity. A cross between the Rioja and the Claret alongside, taking only the best bits of both. This is a bottle one could follow over th course of a couple of hours on ones own. Just lovely. Again, given the scope for bottle variation this was caught at the right time and place. *****

Similar to a previous bottle four years ago. Fresh acidity, the tannins receded, a mellow left bank feel to this. Some pencil lead and cigar box. A minerally spine too. Refreshing. ****

Corked. Shame given last week’s lovely bottle of this.

Mid straw. Quite rich on the nose. Freshened by the lack of dosage, but also a little lean around the edges for it too. Probably not done any favours by coming at the end of the meal. Some mid-palate complexity. Decent enough but rather shaded by the bottles beforehand. ***