1998 Wine

A dazzling effort, the 1998 boasts an opaque purple color in addition to an exceptional bouquet of smoke, licorice, plums, black raspberries, and blackberries. As the wine sits in the glass, coffee and chocolate also emerge. Full-bodied,... Read More

Readers should not hesitate to check out Ausone's new second wine, Chapelle d'Ausone. It reveals Ausone's minerality, finesse, and quality presented in a lower-keyed, more open-knit style. - WA, RP (4/2001)

The 1998 exhibits flamboyant, obvious new oak, but unlike other years, there is more concentration, power, and depth behind the vanillin/pain grille notes. Full-bodied, dense, and chewy, with copious peppery, herb-tinged, red... Read More

Production: 8,5 cases; Alcohol: 13.9%; Blend: 1% Cabernet Sauvignon; Harvest Dates: October 23 to November 7.This was one of the latest harvests ever in Napa Valley (because of very cold weather during both spring and summer),... Read More

This is a Provencal, peppery, spicy, garrigue-scented wine, with extraordinary concentration, loads of glycerin, full body, yet no sense of heaviness or lack of definition. Enormously-endowed and majestic, it possesses a huge... Read More

Exploding with pure, clean and vibrant fruit intensity, this full-bodied wine coils around the palate, tightening its grip. Beautiful expression of Chardonnay, unhindered by too much oak, with lime, pear, honey, and a spicy touch... Read More

The 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon Pritchard Hill is a fine wine. While it does not reveal much weight, it is a dense plum/purple-colored, big, thick, concentrated effort. Evolved aromas of smoke, cedar, tapenade, blackberries, creme... Read More

Tasted on three separate occasions in January, this wine performed significantly below the potential it revealed from barrel. One bottle was extremely vegetal as well as diluted. Essentially, this is a medium ruby/garnet-colored,... Read More

Chapoutier's Ermitage l'Ermite possesses a transparent character that almost allows the taster to see through the wine's multiple levels. What stands out is the liqueur of granite liquid minerality. The elegant 1998... Read More

The 1998 Margaux's color is a dense ruby/purple. The wine is tannic and austere, but elegant, with notes of asphalt, blackberries, acacia flowers, and sweet, toasty oak. Subtle, rich, nicely-textured, and medium-bodied, it... Read More

On this occasion, the 1998 Chateau Cheval Blanc could not match the stellar performance of the 1990, though it is still a great wine. It has a very pure, svelte bouquet with black cherries, camphor, creme de cassis and sage aromas.... Read More

A superb effort, the 1998 may be the finest Clerc-Milon I have tasted. A blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot, this is a blockbuster, over-sized offering for this estate. Full-bodied... Read More

The 1998 Maya (500 cases from a blend of 45% Cabernet Franc and 55% Cabernet Sauvignon) is an amazing effort, possessing multiple layers of fruit, sweet tannin, and no herbaceousness, astringency, or thinness. This is an amazing... Read More

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This is very reserved though determined swirling reveals a nose that is exceptionally fine and pure with fantastic aromatic detail and an almost diaphanous transparency of expression that reveals all of the kaleidoscopic La Tāche... Read More

A spectacular effort, the 1998 exhibits an opaque purple color as well as a gorgeous bouquet of overripe black cherries intermixed with blackberries, blueberries, licorice, and smoky oak. Full-bodied, low in acidity, opulent,... Read More