Powerful and concentrated nose with fine bright – even sappy – aromas of blackberry and earth, with a fine thread of violet perfume and dried petals running through. The overall impression on the palate is intensity and balance. Lovely delicate, soft though perfectly insistent tannins (did someone describe them as filigree?), fine fruit, more pot-pourri, the fruit ripe and still luscious but tempered with minerality. Magnificent. Served (as it often is) alongside the 1983, which on this rainy December evening in London didn’t show nearly so well.