Still a very pure, dark ruby colour, with a lighter rim that showed no
hint of browning at all. It had a very grand bouquet indeed, with dark
fruit, cedar spice, leather, cigar box, earth, pencil shavings, and tons of
graphite minerality - a truly splendid nose indeed, which really
revealed itself fully after a couple of hours in the decanter (it was
still a little closed upon opening). In the mouth there was very
prominent blackcurrant and cassis fruit, much more so than I expected
from the nose, with the earth, leather, spice and the beautiful graphite again.
It had a velvety texture and still great purity of fruit, with all the
other flavours falling into place and integrating beautifully. The
tannins were soft, the acidity was well-balanced, and the evolving
finish was savoury very long indeed. An excellent wine, which I believe is in
its peak drinking window, but will definitely keep for a while yet with
good storage conditions. (04/10)