Sumptuous and seamless, perhaps revealing less artefact and more fruit purity than the signature 1996 vintage, but it looks capable of attaining similar complexity with bottle-age. Beneath fresh melon and stonefruit flavours, nutty and oatmeal-like influences lie suggestions of earth and mineral, while the palate’s succulent baby fat texture culminates in a lingering, dry and savoury. Should develop classically.

Handsome, savoury and seamlessly structured, with a smoky fragrance of melon, peach and grapefruit, plus undertones of sherbet, minerals, matchstick and wheatmeal. ThereÕs also a floral, lanolin-like waxiness that adds to its complexity. Medium to full in weight, with sumptuous, concentrated fruit, it marries a richness and fattiness of texture with an elegance and fineness. It finishes long and persistent, with bright crystalline acids and lingering notes of hazelnuts, smoked hams and nougat.

An essay in restrained power and balance. Scented with a complex bouquet of grapefruit, melon, lemon meringue, lime juice and yellow peach knit with smoky, matchstick-like oak, itÕs backed by creamy, nougat-like notes of ginger and cinnamon plus an assertive minerality. Smooth and gentle despite its dense core of citrus/melon flavour, itÕs sumptuous and fatty but tightens with precision and focus towards a lingering mealy, briny and savoury finish of fresh, tightly balanced acidity. Underpinned by a fine chalkiness, itÕs stylistically located somewhere between the 1995 and 1996 vintages, with something extra.

Finely crafted and balanced, this complex and deeply layered chardonnay has a bouquet of white peach, melon and creamy, nutty complexity backed by nuances of ginger, fresh matchstick oak and yellow flowers. It’s smooth and luscious, richly endowed with melon, grapefruit and white peach flavours tightly balanced with nougat-like and earthy undertones, extending long and savoury towards a lingering, soft but briny finish. With superlative balance, itÕs an exercise in complexity and latent power.