A deep, dark, clear red. The aromas are deep and dark, too: pure, classic and rousing, packed with pristine plum. That plum is so fresh you can smell its crushed skin, too.

Pale red in colour. Penetrating scents of redcurrant fruit with notes of ash. Fruit-fragrant, yet the constraint of the vintage is evident, shutting down the range of potential fruit allusions.

An unprecedentedly saturated black-red in colour. The scents are exotic: rumba, spice, red-black fruits, the Caribbean, the Malabar coast.

Bright, clear red in colour. The aromas are astonishingly perfumed; one of my fellow tasters said she thought her glass had been rinsed in Chanel No 5.

Pale bright red in colour. The aromas are fresh and bright, too, almost crisp with high-definition cherry.

Full, glowing red. The first sniff is sweet (doughnuts); a slightly muddled vegetal note follows.

Bright, deep red in colour. The aromas are savoury, warm, almost claretty. There is some sweet cherry fruit at the end, but compared to 2001 it is more complex and less primary.

Deep ox-blood red. The aromas are sweet and luscious, almost soupy, almost confit. Bubbling, simmering warmth: a burgundy which evokes prelates and good living.