Heady perfume of black berry fruit, cedar spice and a subtle whiff of dried lavender. In the mouth it is gymnastic but muscular: sleek and satiny in texture but with power underpinning it, adding an inky depth. That it has generous black cassis, spiced plum and even tea leaf flavours in abundance goes without saying. With lovely interplay of all the parts – fruit, acid and oak – it is refined, elegant and structured. Beautifully poised, it lingers long.
Spanish chorizo and bean stew, rosemary-infused lamb, petit poussin with thyme, seared AAA rump, fillet or sirloin, and Châteaubriand.