Pale salmon pink. A touch of strawberry. Minerally, fresh and with a lovely line. Very harmonious. Aperitif or food. Lots of energy. Very fine. ****

Oxidised.

Mid garnet. Lovely mature claret nose. Mellow, slightly savoury. Good acidity, relatively light. Some flavour here. Mellow cigar box starting to emerge with air. This has survived nicely and makes for a pleasant drink. (*)**1/2

Full straw. Slightly muddy Sauvignon nose. Reasonably ripe on the attack with a leaner SB finish. Pleasant. ***

Dusty, quite warm Graves nose. Something slightly dry and woody on the finish. Still some chew. A little lactic on the nose too. Dryand surly finish. Does seem to lift a little after an hour or so, so probably 95 rather than cork, but even so. Lacks charm, but signs of it getting there. **(*1/2)?

Nicely Graves nose. Tobacco and warm terracotta. Nicely fresh with a good line. Initially quite rich, but balances out to a nicely fresh finish. Lovely. ****

Very ripe and slightly roasted on the nose. Dark and dense. Rich, a little inky. Full. Not a whole bottle proposition but I could see this working with hefty meat, and indeed it does. Dry and only either side though. ***1/2 with the right food, *** otherwise.

Full garnet. Initially a touch rustic on the nose. Nicely mellow attack and palate. Fresh. A non-alcoholic warmth here. Becomes quite savoury and puts on weight, filling out with air. Interesting and good. ****

Lovely dense nose, more Pauillac than St J. Ripe, dense, lovely. Proper. Virile too. Oodles of energy. Must be one of the best 85s. As it warms and develops it becomes more St J on the nose, and the restrained richness of the vintage softens the masculine line. Just gorgeous. *****

Mid old gold. Far better than a bottle earlier this month. Nicely sweet without the medicinal edge. Not the most dense or lush, but nicely sweet and lived well with the superb pudding. Starting to trend towards foie gras or blue cheese rather than pudding, but it’s all still there, albeit with bottle variation. ****