March 24, 2024 - Still in its infancy, but showing its depth and potential after 2 hours decanting and aeration. Cassis, cigar box and summer fruits wound right in a corset of tannins, which still cut short what will undoubtedly be a long finish. Revisit in 5 years.
February 5, 2024 - Still in the early drinking stage. Wait.
February 4, 2024 - This bottle has good fruit but still feels a bit dusty, hard and angular. Lots of tannins. Maybe this has lost some fruit but still needs time to shed its tannins. Hold or decant well and eat forgiving food.
January 1, 2024 - A pretty, glossy nose. There is very clean, intense and precise fruit peaking out from underneath but this is quickly and firmly shut down with drying, mouth-puckering tannin. NM reference to tightly coiled spring is very apt. It tastes very raw and, swirled round the glass, leaves a dark purple hue, suggesting we should please leave this alone, let it do its thing and call on again much later once it is happier to show its (considerable) talents.
December 22, 2023 - Too young to fully enjoy right now. Should have held it for another 5 years. A lot of potential, but not yet ready for consumption. I double decanted two bottles and let them breath for 4 hours; that still wasn’t enough time. Maybe tomorrow it will be better. The 2014 pinot we had at the same meal far outshowed it merely because the pinot was at peak and this one still needs time.
December 17, 2023 - This structured, intensive, still fairly tight and now somewhat closed wine is having a considerable ageing potential. The wine is also fruity, however, making it fully drinkable at the moment, especially after decanting. The wine is displaying beautiful, classic notes of blackberry, blackcurrant, plum, cedar, pencil and wet earth. All in all, this is very good now, and it will be even better in the future. (Unfortunately enough, this was my one and only bottle.)
November 11, 2023 - Fastholder min høje rating. Det er et bare super glas vin i min optik. Fortsat ung med relativ markante tanniner og en herlig lang eftersmag med masser af mørk frugt. Kan sagtens drikkes nu, men luft den godt. +10-15 år.
September 28, 2023 - Terrific wine. Very youthful. This combined concentrated fruit with excellent acidity to create a ripe but very focused wine in due course.
September 15, 2023 - Deep and profound nose. There are fragrant seasoned cedar, tobacco and concentrated dry blackberries. The toasted cloves complete the aromatics. After half an hour in the glass, there are savoury and minerals notes. Palate echoed the nose. Rich, balanced and full. Good level of freshness and length in a full-bodied, firmed and tight structure. Very fine tannins to support the structure. Transition to a velvety and inky finish is linear and focused. Ready to drink now with some decanting to open up the wine. Another 2-3 years would be even better. This should drink well for the next decade if it is stored well. 93-95 pts.
August 24, 2023 - 92, possibly rising to 94 with some more age. This is widely available and has stellar reviews (JR: 18.5). It's also cheap; £35 from TWS. Some advice:
(1) This is a seriously burly wine, which IMO is not yet ready to drink.
(2) Given some time in a decanter (ideally 6-8 hours), a full – and glorious nose – unfurls. There is dark berry, chocolate, some spice on the nose. Similar notes on the palate.
(3) Presently, the tannic structure is a little overbearing and cramps out the fruit. It improved with air.
All signs point to the need to cellar this a bit longer. So if you're going to take the plunge on a sale/TWS, just don't drink yet. Wait until 2025 at least. Or 2035! I sense this wine has enough stuffing to last for decades and, if kept well, it could be a legendary bargain.