Etienne de Montille describes the 2009 vintage as having produced "sexy and irresistible wines that should be hugely popular. I began picking on the 6th of September and the real trick was to preserve the freshness in the wines. Potential alcohols were in the 12.3 to 13.3% range and while the fruit was ultra-clean, there was still plenty of sorting to be done. By this though I don't mean fruit that was rot-affected or not clean but rather fruit that might have been slightly figgy or less than completely fresh. The vinifications were easy and the stems were ripe so I used, in most cases, a relatively high proportion of them. What is clear at this early junction is that 2009 is, at a minimum, a very good vintage but it's an open question as to whether it's truly great. But even if it's not a great vintage, it's not a vintage like 2005 as there isn't the same quality, or quantity of tannins. The '09s are lighter and a bit more elegant as well and as such, they will probably always be accessible, even when young. I don't see them needing anywhere near as much time as the '05s to come around, which is to say around 10 years for even the most serious of the '09s." As the scores and commentaries suggest, this is a knockout set of wines and many of them are not to be missed. Perhaps more importantly, de Montille's emphasis on keeping only the freshest fruit paid big dividends as the aromatics are almost like a hypothetical blend of his '08s and his '09s rather than the fruit compote noses of many '09s. Tasting note: Soft wood frames the spicy and discreetly earth and animale-infused mix of red and dark berry fruit aromas where the earth continues onto the big, muscular and powerful flavors that brim with an abundance of dry extract that renders the firm tannic spine less prominent on the serious, long and explosive finish. This is a big wine with plenty of focused brawn yet there is almost no rusticity. For purchases reaching HK$1,500, delivery and service charges will be waived for any address on Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories as well as self-pick orders.