Betsy was working last night, I made leg of lamb with roasted potatoes
and sauteed spinach for Dave and I. Needed Bordeaux for my lamb, opened
the 1998 Vieux Fortin (St. Emilion). I had been a little disappointed
in this before, so had expectations well in check. This bottle showed
much better than previous ones. Nose of flowers and cassis with a
little vanilla; the palate is more red-fruited, raspberry and plum with
some earth. Flinty minerals on the reasonably long finish. First of
these I've thought were actually a deal at the low$20s price. B+


Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent
wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't
drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no
promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

In message .com>
"DaleW" > wrote:

>... I had been a little disappointed
> in this before, so had expectations well in check. This bottle showed
> much better than previous ones.
>
As a matter of interest when do you open the last one? I am finding
that most of my �98 Saint-Emilions will still benefit from more time —
even at Grand Cru level and, of course, Vieux Fortin is planted to a
fairly high proportion of Cabernet which will probably increase that
tendency anyway.

Cheers

Tim

Couple of years ago, probably was just in a closed phase. I think most
of my earlier drinking modern 1998 St Ems (things like du Cauze,
Dassault, etc) are drinking well now, while more structured modern ones
like Faugeres, Clos de l'Oratoire, Pavie-Decesse, etc need time (and
certainly the more traditional ones like Figeac and Soutard need time).


Timothy Hartley wrote:
> In message .com>
> "DaleW" > wrote:
>
> >... I had been a little disappointed
> > in this before, so had expectations well in check. This bottle showed
> > much better than previous ones.
> >
> As a matter of interest when do you open the last one? I am finding
> that most of my �98 Saint-Emilions will still benefit from more time -
> even at Grand Cru level and, of course, Vieux Fortin is planted to a
> fairly high proportion of Cabernet which will probably increase that
> tendency anyway.
>
> Cheers
>
> Tim

"DaleW" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Betsy was working last night, I made leg of lamb with roasted potatoes
> and sauteed spinach for Dave and I. Needed Bordeaux for my lamb, opened
> the 1998 Vieux Fortin (St. Emilion). I had been a little disappointed
> in this before, so had expectations well in check. This bottle showed
> much better than previous ones. Nose of flowers and cassis with a
> little vanilla; the palate is more red-fruited, raspberry and plum with
> some earth. Flinty minerals on the reasonably long finish. First of
> these I've thought were actually a deal at the low$20s price. B+
>
I opened a 1997 Cap de Faugères (Côtes de Castillon) last night and your
description applies except no trace of vanilla and there was a faint hint of
cassis on the palate. At ~US$14.50, I thought it a real bargain. I hadn't
been expecting much and this was one of those really pleasant surprises. I
think there's still some left at the store.
Graham

Glad to hear the '97 Cap de Faugeres is doing well. I found I favored
the modern Right Bankers in that vintage, though I've pretty much drunk
them up.

graham wrote:
> "DaleW" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> > Betsy was working last night, I made leg of lamb with roasted potatoes
> > and sauteed spinach for Dave and I. Needed Bordeaux for my lamb, opened
> > the 1998 Vieux Fortin (St. Emilion). I had been a little disappointed
> > in this before, so had expectations well in check. This bottle showed
> > much better than previous ones. Nose of flowers and cassis with a
> > little vanilla; the palate is more red-fruited, raspberry and plum with
> > some earth. Flinty minerals on the reasonably long finish. First of
> > these I've thought were actually a deal at the low$20s price. B+
> >
> I opened a 1997 Cap de Faugères (Côtes de Castillon) last night and your
> description applies except no trace of vanilla and there was a faint hint of
> cassis on the palate. At ~US$14.50, I thought it a real bargain. I hadn't
> been expecting much and this was one of those really pleasant surprises. I
> think there's still some left at the store.
> Graham