Very stylish and elegant, with juicy brightness and texture. Its ripe, almost jujube-like aromas of cassis, sweet plums and violets are backed by restrained oak and a whiff of mint. Sumptuous and smooth, its supple, willowy and tightly controlled palate bursts with intense cassis, plum and chocolate flavour. Long and seamless, it’s framed by velvet-smooth but firm tannins and enhanced by dusty vanilla oak. Terrific complexity and balance.

Long, fine-grained, supple and seamless, this very regional blend reveals briary, kirsch-like flavours of blackberries, redcurrants, plums and cherries backed by nuances of underbrush and dried herbs, white pepper and menthol, mint and eucalypt backed by dusty cedar, clove and vanilla oak. ItÕs firm and chalky, with deep, slightly sappy and sour-edged black and red berry/plum fruit that becomes smoother and more polished with aeration.

Likely to build over the next decade, this fine, supple blend has a lightly spicy and musky fragrance of red cherries, redcurrants and dusty, cedary vanilla oak lifted by a hint of cassis and a fresh note of dried herbs. Full to medium-bodied, with a fine, drying undercarriage supporting its restrained, mouthfilling presence of dark and red cherries, berries, red plums and restrained oak, it finishes fresh and savoury, with lingering suggestions of spice and dried herbs.

Almost too appealing in its youth, this remarkably drinkable young blend has a complex, alluring bouquet of sweet red and blue flowers and fruit underpinned by spicy, earthy and meaty nuances, musky suggestions of spice, clove and cinnamon with a hint of cedary oak. ItÕs medium to full-bodied but beneath its long, vibrant core of reserved blueberry, dark plum and blackberry flavour lies a drying, astringent spine of tightly knit tannins. It finishes long and earthy, savoury and finely balanced, with the promise of many years of enticing development.