Lovely nose, surprisingly open with a fresh bread aspect. Fine mousse. Tight on the attack initially and through the mid palate. Feels very young but there’s a density and underlying Krugosity that suggests everything is in place and will emerge as it relaxes. ***(*) but this melds nicely over an hour or so in the glass. ***(*) or **** with a quick decant.

Dense ruby. Very full and richly fruited on the nose. Very plush. It’s like being caught in the middle of the mulberry harvest. Quite smooth on the attack with a relatively flamboyant feel to the mid palate. Some tannin but very smooth, though starts to build on the teeth. Black pepper and beef with air. ***1/2

Deep ruby. Far more mute on the nose. A dense minerality. Ripe but a nicely balanced attack. Some cassis on top of the blackcurrant leaf. Tannin is there in some force re-enforcing a licorice element on the finish. Dense and quite chalky chewy. Even with rich food this is a surly bruiser. ***

Denser and darker. More cherry red. Vanilla tinged mulberry and blackcurrant. Darker and slightly confected. Purer on the palate though, dense blackcurrant. After a while this appears slightly corked, but it’s had a long decant, and the cardboard wordiness seems to come and go, so maybe just a little herbal. *(**). 88pts on this showing but a sun sequent bottle from the same case was significantly better and more classic a week later, so I think my suspicion of low level TCA was correct.

Dense ruby. Very fragrant in a floral sense. Cool yet sweetly fruited in a dark red spectrum. Good line and shape. Tannins fine and resolved enough for this to be a smooth drink now. Positive finish. Delightful. Holds true throughout the evening. ****

Classic blackcurrant and blackcurrant leaf nose. A little lighter on the palate, though the fruit remains dark. Lacks some definition and length — more front end rounded albeit in a clumsy way. Seems to pull together with air. Dry. **(*1/2)

Deep ruby. A lovely brightness here. Dolly herbaceous feel to the blackcurrant. Dark fruited. Quite broad and rounded on the attack, breadth rather than length. A nicely floral freshness with air. **(**)

Darker and denser ruby, barely translucent. More serious nose too. Denser. Dark, quite sweet-fruited. In a darker hue to the GL. Finely dusty tannins. Hinting at dryness but less so than the Brans Cantenac. **(**)

Deep ruby. Cool elegance on the nose. Blackcurrant leaf. Lovely line, sweet dark red fruit with a really dense core. A little more resolved on the finish than some in this flight, but really needs time. **(**)

Nice blackcurrant leaf nose. Calm and classical. Blackcurrant fruit on the palate. If this was a musician it would be playing slightly flat currently. Needs time to tuneup. Similar feels to a bottle tasted in 2010. Currently on the dry side. **(*1/2)

Similarly dusty blackcurrant nose. Lovely poise and focus on the attack. Cool but with a core of balancing sweet dark fruit. A savoury edge to the finish. Initially really giving and if not quite fully open, it’s showing signs. However after 30 mins this really closes and dries up to leave a very dry and dusty feel. **(**’

Classic Rieussec nose of coconut and pineapple with a hint of barley sugar. Some botrytis but nothing overdone or medicinal. A rich but restrained style, lacking the rich exuberance of the 03 in its youth, but very assured and in a lovely place. ****