The wine shows very pretty fruit with spices and milk chocolate. Full body, with velvety tannins and an attractive finish.

This has crunchy acidity, with herb-inflected plum, currant and cherry pit notes. Lots of aromas swirling here, with brisk length.-J.M.

The 2011 Les Ormes de Pez is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot aged in 45% new oak. It has an intense, almost brutish bouquet that leaps out of the glass and grabs you by the lapels. It is sweet with cassis and blueberry jam aromas, a touch of graphite and scorched earth underneath. The palate has a tannic entry with a saline seam, edgy tannins that make this quite masculine with a sinewy finish. There is good substance here if not finesse, although there is fine persistency towards the finish. Tasted April 2012.

[50CS/41M/7CF/2PV] Dense and mineral to smell, no obvious fruit ripeness yet; vivid middleweight on the leaner side; fine grained tannin, no excess, fresh acidity, moderate concentration; classic proportions, moderate scope, dry, elegant, lesser claret. 2017-24 [M.Schuster, Bordeaux Mar/Apr 2012]

Drink 2020-2035 Meaty cassis. Firm, chewy, all structure at the moment. Dark and dense but not tough but making no effort to please. Though at the very end the fruit reappears as a reminder. (JH)