A blend of 70% Sauvignon Blanc, 20% Fié Gris (the local name for Sauvignon Gris) and 10% Chardonnay. From a lieu-dit on yellow tuff covered with cherts, 13% ABV. Expressive, ripe style, low acidity, tropical fruit and quince, floral and lifted, delicately honeyed, gentle bitters, good resonance and length. Drink up.

A blend of 90% Viura (a.k.a. Maccabeo) and 10% Garnacha Blanca, organic viticulture, destemmed, five-hour cold soak, fermented and aged for four months in barrique with regular bâtonnage, only 1,000 bottles produced. Tart citrus fruit and apple, well-judged oak, crisp and steely, with a delicately creamy texture, forward and attractive.

Marvellous jewelly fruit of ripe citrus and peach, the new oak is clearly of the highest quality, but it is also quite toasty and there is a lot of it, even if is well integrated, powerful and concentrated on the palate but elegant and fresh in spite of the sheer weight of fruit, very good resonance and length. Impressive, but also quite obvious - I would like to see a bit more finesse.

For many wines, 1996 was a vintage that never blossomed. They were always too young - and then they were suddenly too old. It looked like that for Pontet-Canet as well. My first three tasting notes (2009, 2011 and 2012) all refer to a closed, tight and tannic wine, and the second three (2015, 2017 and 2020) all express concern over a lack of fruit in an otherwise classic and fresh Pauillac. Tonight we struck gold with this slender but rich bottle, which delivered a flawless expression of vintage and vineyard, with stunning, crunchy blackcurrant fruit spooned on top, menthol and just a touch of spicy beef stew.

Dutch-bottled by Robbers & Van den Hoogen. Deep and rich colour, deep and spicy nose, great vitality without any signs of old acidity creeping in, sturdy and rich, vinous rather than very complex, slightly monolithic, distinctly port-like on the finish with noticeable back-end heat.

Dutch-bottled by Robbers & Van den Hoogen. Far less port-like than the first bottle, more cedary and more transparent in every sense, with a lovely definition in the crushed red berry fruit, refined tannins and a silky-sweet texture, excellent resonance and length. A very fine bottle.

Made from 100% Grenache, 100% whole cluster, raised in used demi-muids. Mature, spicy and sweet, rich but elegant, soft acidity and mild tannins, flowers, little or no noticeable oak, expressive and balanced, more volume than sheer concentration, silky texture, polished and refined, almost delicate in its way, excellent resonance and length. Fully mature but will go on.

Bottled April 1995, bottle no. 889 of 2920 bottles produced. Incredibly powerful and concentrated but not as forbidding as the rarissime 1968, more charm, marvellous candied fruit and precision, very linear, straight as an arrow, woody and leathery but not too salty, hint of sour butter, never-ending finish.

Light and fully mature colour, hint of varnish, delicately nutty, elegant, transparent and refined, well-balanced with vestiges of red fruit, little or no tannins left, slightly odd green apple finish. Drink up.