The 1998 Rare was only made in magnum. Although the key word is ‘radiant’, when cellar master Régis Camus describes it as a perfectly mannered English gentleman he is maybe closer to the mark, notwithstanding the wine’s undoubted radiance. There is something inordinately refined and civilised here: spice and blossom, apricot and smoke, an encyclopedic gamut of flavour beyond the apparently youthful, nacreous colour. The tropical fruit leitmotif is present, of course, but there is so much more besides and so much more to come. A truly wonderful wine - English gentlemen really do have a lot to live up to!

Magnum. Régis Camus' favourite vintage and the current release! Pale yellow. Nicely mature with some sweetness and lemon fruit. Clean and resolved though not that much evidence of autolysis. Complete, composed and fine and sophisticated rather than dramatic or showy. A hint of smokiness on the long finish. (JR)