The cooler vintage means that the 2009 doesn’t have the plush, vibrant immediacy of 2008 and will need time before its finer qualities are fully obvious. It is restrained with graphite minerality and briary complexities on the nose and palate. The palate is seamless, impeccably balanced and velvety: it is opulent and deep, and finishes long and dry with fine, slinky tannins that are tongue-coating and memorable. Best with five more years cellaring and capabale of another ten.
