Jimmy Smith

Director, West and North London Wine School

8.9

2009: Quite a sense nose, ripe and darker fruit but lacking terroir or grace. Sweet and spicy. Medoum@bodied, spicy, sweeter fruit, juicy, ripe, no tannin, low acid, drink now. — 10 years ago

Jimmy Smith

Director, West and North London Wine School

8.4

Candied and over ripe nose, very chalky green pepper palate. Odd. — 10 years ago

Jimmy Smith

Director, West and North London Wine School

8.6

2003: very secondary, meaty, earthy, raisin, figgy. Not aged gracefully. Black olive, balsamic, herbal, lightly volatile. Very dried fruit palate, lacking the freshness, softening on tannin, meaty, mealy. Lacking length. Okay. — 10 years ago

Jimmy Smith

Director, West and North London Wine School

8.9

2008: poor vintage but showing significant development. Red plum, cherry, earthy, bretty, smokey. White pepper, garrigues. Medium bodied and fresher, with a vibrant acidity and softer tannin. More like a Saint Joseph, bundles of red fruit, red currant, cherry, light spice and smokey oak. Good but not typical powerful Rotie. — 10 years ago

Jimmy Smith

Director, West and North London Wine School

9.1

2009: opening up wonderfully now, lots of minerality, chalky, graphite notes, red fruits a plenty. Cherry, strawberry, lightly oaky, leather. Light saline note. Light sweet spice. Light bodied but punching above its weight, acidic, but only lightly grippy, lots of sour cherry, bright and crunchy. A chalky grainy style. Drink up in next 2-3 years. — 10 years ago

Jimmy Smith

Director, West and North London Wine School

9.0

Lots of typicity, green apple, mineral, salad leaf, slightly cucumberesque due to poor year. Light, chalky, fresh, not much depth, but pleasant and elegant — 10 years ago

Jimmy Smith

Director, West and North London Wine School

9.1

2007: much more development, more classic, with blackberry, and bramble fruit. Very spicy, cloves, cinnamon, black pepper with a distinct gravel Minerally note. Medium to full, great acidity and chewy unresolved tannin. Very good, with black fruit, hint of black truffle, smoke, meaty, gamey and a distinct tobacco oak finish. — 10 years ago

Jimmy Smith

Director, West and North London Wine School

9.4

2007: lovely opulent nose, creamy, light salted butter, vanilla, almond, and bags of red Apple, peachy notes. Very forward. Complex, mouth coating, minerally, clean, creamy, green apple, white peach, a long smoky mineral and oak length. Fab. — 10 years ago

Jimmy Smith

Director, West and North London Wine School

8.8

Quite muted nose, needs to be served quite warm to show the full affect. Creamy, peach, light mineral, good soft style chardonnay with balanced acid. Lacking definition. — 10 years ago

Jimmy Smith

Director, West and North London Wine School

9.3

2006: super developed, meaty, gamey, with forest floor, mushroom, trufflednotes. Lovely sweet oak note, vanilla, somewhat reminiscent of a classic aged Rioja. Splendid rich palate, medium bodied, very fresh with acidity, bags of red fruit, hints of black, meaty, gamey, leathery, smokey. Superb. — 10 years ago