Current look at nine red Burgundies from 1998, an uneven vintage that when
young seemed sometimes well structured, sometimes (as an experienced
observer summed it up) blunt. Tenth wine was 1998 Rochioli West Block Pinot
Noir (Russian River Valley). Wines furnished by participants who bought
them when new on the market circa 2000-2001 and stored them well. These
wines are from good producers, and many proved to be drinking very well now.

Tasted blind after siphoning (11 experienced tasters). Below is from my
tasting notes in descending group blind preference. (Each person does a
rough ranking; these are combined, which can cause ties, as in 5th/6th and
8th/9th places below. None of these wines was found defective or
unpleasant -- the rankings are relative preferences.) "T" marks my taste
impressions, following smell impressions.



1998 Groffier Bonnes-Mares. (Group's and my 1st favorite.) Faint at first.
Coffee suggesting high toast. Firm red color. T classic Nuits structure,
high toast, anise, tannin partly resolved, fine fruit with still young
touches. Drinking very well.

1998 J. Rochioli West Block. (Most of us detected this as the ringer, but
also liked it.) Unusual nose in this company. Intense spicy cherry.
Impression of relative youth or fruit. Wood spice. T mouthfilling fruit,
young raw wood. Low acid. A candied or concentrated fruit impression.
(Some said they caught Brett.)

1998 Méo-Camuzet Clos Vougeot. (My 2nd favorite.) Distinct pitfruit smells
[plums/cherries]. Young impression. Bright fruit. T fine classic
structure, mature flavors, agreeable. Coffee, chocolate.

1998 Anne Gros Richebourg. (Group 4th but I didn't like it as much -- my
8th.) Very faint at first. Sour apple smells. [Some said "floral."] T
coffee, aldehydes, well mineraled, relatively low acid. (Note that this was
the most expensive wine tasted.)

1998 Roumier Chambolle-Musigny "Les Cras." (Group 5th/6th choice, my 3rd.)
Sulfurous truffle impression. T aged flavors, herbality, well made.
Concentrated, classy.

1998 Rousseau Gevrey-Chambertin "Clos St. Jacques." (Group 5th/6th, my
4th.) Very faint at first. Toast. Anise comes out after a while. T tart
edge, solid core, orange peel.

1998 de Vogüé Bonnes Mares. (My 5th, group 7th.) Very faint nose
initially. Almost brewer's-yeast smell. T surprising firm acid and tannin,
hot, impression of less development than some of these. Good structure.

1998 Rouget Echézeaux. (Group 8th/9th, my 7th.) Young color. Plummy and
orange smells. Odd barnyard, musty. T hot, strong acid.

1998 Lafarge Volnay Vendanges Séléctionées. (Group 8th/9th, my 10th or
least favorite.) Very faint, sour cherry, almost mildewy smells. T solid
structure, youngish, sour cherries. ($40 at purchase with tax, least
expensive of these wines.)

1998 Jadot Bonnes-Mares. (Group 10th, my 9th.) Savory/truffly and Cherry
Heering woodspice nose. Pickles. T gamy note, mushrooms, anise coating the
mouth faintly, mature flavors. Less concentrated than some of these.

On Jun 14, 2:40�pm, "Max Hauser" > wrote:
> Current look at nine red Burgundies from 1998, an uneven vintage that when
> young seemed sometimes well structured, sometimes (as an experienced
> observer summed it up) blunt. *Tenth wine was 1998 Rochioli West Block Pinot
> Noir (Russian River Valley). *Wines furnished by participants who bought
> them when new on the market circa 2000-2001 and stored them well. *These
> wines are from good producers, and many proved to be drinking very well now.
>
> Tasted blind after siphoning (11 experienced tasters). Below is from my
> tasting notes in descending group blind preference. *(Each person does a
> rough ranking; these are combined, which can cause ties, as in 5th/6th and
> 8th/9th places below. *None of these wines was found defective or
> unpleasant -- the rankings are relative preferences.) * "T" marks my taste
> impressions, following smell impressions.
>
> 1998 Groffier Bonnes-Mares. *(Group's and my 1st favorite.) *Faint at first.
> Coffee suggesting high toast. *Firm red color. *T classic Nuits structure,
> high toast, anise, tannin partly resolved, fine fruit with still young
> touches. *Drinking very well.
>
> 1998 J. Rochioli West Block. *(Most of us detected this as the ringer, but
> also liked it.) *Unusual nose in this company. *Intense spicy cherry.
> Impression of relative youth or fruit. *Wood spice. *T mouthfilling fruit,
> young raw wood. *Low acid. *A candied or concentrated fruit impression.
> (Some said they caught Brett.)
>
> 1998 Méo-Camuzet Clos Vougeot. *(My 2nd favorite.) *Distinct pitfruit smells
> [plums/cherries]. *Young impression. *Bright fruit. *T fine classic
> structure, mature flavors, agreeable. *Coffee, chocolate.
>
> 1998 Anne Gros Richebourg. *(Group 4th but I didn't like it as much -- my
> 8th.) *Very faint at first. *Sour apple smells. *[Some said "floral.."] * T
> coffee, aldehydes, well mineraled, relatively low acid. *(Note that this was
> the most expensive wine tasted.)
>
> 1998 Roumier Chambolle-Musigny "Les Cras." *(Group 5th/6th choice, my 3rd.)
> Sulfurous truffle impression. *T aged flavors, herbality, well made.
> Concentrated, classy.
>
> 1998RousseauGevrey-Chambertin "Clos St. Jacques." *(Group 5th/6th, my
> 4th.) *Very faint at first. *Toast. *Anise comes out after a while. T tart
> edge, solid core, orange peel.
>
> 1998 de Vogüé Bonnes Mares. *(My 5th, group 7th.) *Very faint nose
> initially. *Almost brewer's-yeast smell. *T surprising firm acid and tannin,
> hot, impression of less development than some of these. *Good structure.
>
> 1998 Rouget Echézeaux. *(Group 8th/9th, my 7th.) *Young color. *Plummy and
> orange smells. *Odd barnyard, musty. * T hot, strong acid.
>
> 1998 Lafarge Volnay Vendanges Séléctionées. *(Group 8th/9th, my 10th or
> least favorite.) *Very faint, sour cherry, almost mildewy smells. *T solid
> structure, youngish, sour cherries. *($40 at purchase with tax, least
> expensive of these wines.)
>
> 1998 Jadot Bonnes-Mares. *(Group 10th, my 9th.) *Savory/truffly and Cherry
> Heering woodspice nose. *Pickles. *T gamy note, mushrooms, anise coating the
> mouth faintly, mature flavors. *Less concentrated than some of these.

thanks for excellent notes. Only ones I've had are the Meo C-Vgt and
the Lafarge ( I liked both,the latter more than you). Overall it
sounds like vintage did well this night.

On Jun 14, 2:40�pm, "Max Hauser" > wrote:
> Current look at nine red Burgundies from 1998, an uneven vintage that when
> young seemed sometimes well structured, sometimes (as an experienced
> observer summed it up) blunt. *Tenth wine was 1998 Rochioli West Block Pinot
> Noir (Russian River Valley). *Wines furnished by participants who bought
> them when new on the market circa 2000-2001 and stored them well. *These
> wines are from good producers, and many proved to be drinking very well now.
>
> Tasted blind after siphoning (11 experienced tasters). Below is from my
> tasting notes in descending group blind preference. *(Each person does a
> rough ranking; these are combined, which can cause ties, as in 5th/6th and
> 8th/9th places below. *None of these wines was found defective or
> unpleasant -- the rankings are relative preferences.) * "T" marks my taste
> impressions, following smell impressions.
>
> 1998 Groffier Bonnes-Mares. *(Group's and my 1st favorite.) *Faint at first.
> Coffee suggesting high toast. *Firm red color. *T classic Nuits structure,
> high toast, anise, tannin partly resolved, fine fruit with still young
> touches. *Drinking very well.
>
> 1998 J. Rochioli West Block. *(Most of us detected this as the ringer, but
> also liked it.) *Unusual nose in this company. *Intense spicy cherry.
> Impression of relative youth or fruit. *Wood spice. *T mouthfilling fruit,
> young raw wood. *Low acid. *A candied or concentrated fruit impression.
> (Some said they caught Brett.)
>
> 1998 Méo-Camuzet Clos Vougeot. *(My 2nd favorite.) *Distinct pitfruit smells
> [plums/cherries]. *Young impression. *Bright fruit. *T fine classic
> structure, mature flavors, agreeable. *Coffee, chocolate.
>
> 1998 Anne Gros Richebourg. *(Group 4th but I didn't like it as much -- my
> 8th.) *Very faint at first. *Sour apple smells. *[Some said "floral.."] * T
> coffee, aldehydes, well mineraled, relatively low acid. *(Note that this was
> the most expensive wine tasted.)
>
> 1998 Roumier Chambolle-Musigny "Les Cras." *(Group 5th/6th choice, my 3rd.)
> Sulfurous truffle impression. *T aged flavors, herbality, well made.
> Concentrated, classy.
>
> 1998 Rousseau Gevrey-Chambertin "Clos St. Jacques." *(Group 5th/6th, my
> 4th.) *Very faint at first. *Toast. *Anise comes out after a while. T tart
> edge, solid core, orange peel.
>
> 1998 de Vogüé Bonnes Mares. *(My 5th, group 7th.) *Very faint nose
> initially. *Almost brewer's-yeast smell. *T surprising firm acid and tannin,
> hot, impression of less development than some of these. *Good structure.
>
> 1998 Rouget Echézeaux. *(Group 8th/9th, my 7th.) *Young color. *Plummy and
> orange smells. *Odd barnyard, musty. * T hot, strong acid.
>
> 1998 Lafarge Volnay Vendanges Séléctionées. *(Group 8th/9th, my 10th or
> least favorite.) *Very faint, sour cherry, almost mildewy smells. *T solid
> structure, youngish, sour cherries. *($40 at purchase with tax, least
> expensive of these wines.)
>
> 1998 Jadot Bonnes-Mares. *(Group 10th, my 9th.) *Savory/truffly and Cherry
> Heering woodspice nose. *Pickles. *T gamy note, mushrooms, anise coating the
> mouth faintly, mature flavors. *Less concentrated than some of these.

Thanks for the notes Max. I've had the Jadot a few times and found
your impressions to be close to mine especially in regards to the
"mature flavors". My impression of the Vogue is that it seems that
all of Vogues wines seem "firm" even after years of aging. I guess
it's the house style. I've also had the Meo a number of times with
similar results but I found it fairly rich and ripe. Great notes
thanks again!

Max Hauser wrote:

Thanks for the very useful notes, Max. I don't own many 98ers, having
only caught the Burgundy bug a bit later than that. Two notes stuck out
for me:

> 1998 Rouget Echézeaux. (Group 8th/9th, my 7th.) Young color. Plummy and
> orange smells. Odd barnyard, musty. T hot, strong acid.

I greatly appreciated this note. I was considering taking a shot at a
mixed lot of Rouget wines that included this one. In the end, I decided
that he wasn't quite my style and gave it a pass. In retrospect, that
was probably a Good Decision.

>
> 1998 Lafarge Volnay Vendanges Séléctionées. (Group 8th/9th, my 10th or
> least favorite.) Very faint, sour cherry, almost mildewy smells. T solid
> structure, youngish, sour cherries. ($40 at purchase with tax, least
> expensive of these wines.)

Like Dale, I'm a bit surprised by the poor showing of this wine. Is it
possible that '98 was less successful in the CdB than in the CdN? Unless
I missed something, this was your only CdB representative that evening.

Thanks!
Mark Lipton


--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

On Jun 16, 2:19�pm, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> Max Hauser wrote:
>
> Thanks for the very useful notes, Max. I don't own many 98ers, having
> only caught the Burgundy bug a bit later than that. *Two notes stuck out
> for me:
>
> > 1998 Rouget Echézeaux. *(Group 8th/9th, my 7th.) *Young color. *Plummy and
> > orange smells. *Odd barnyard, musty. * T hot, strong acid.
>
> I greatly appreciated this note. *I was considering taking a shot at a
> mixed lot of Rouget wines that included this one. In the end, I decided
> that he wasn't quite my style and gave it a pass. In retrospect, that
> was probably a Good Decision.
>
>
>
> > 1998 Lafarge Volnay Vendanges Séléctionées. *(Group 8th/9th, my 10th or
> > least favorite.) *Very faint, sour cherry, almost mildewy smells. *T solid
> > structure, youngish, sour cherries. *($40 at purchase with tax, least
> > expensive of these wines.)
>
> Like Dale, I'm a bit surprised by the poor showing of this wine. Is it
> possible that '98 was less successful in the CdB than in the CdN? Unless
> I missed something, this was your only CdB representative that evening.
>
> Thanks!
> Mark Lipton
>
> --
> alt.food.wine FAQ: *http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

Actually I think Volnay did fairly well in 1998, I liked the regular
(not VS) Lafarge village a few weeks ago. But this was tough comp for
a village wine.

"Mark Lipton" in ...
>
> Like Dale, I'm a bit surprised by the poor showing of [the Lafarge
> Volnay]. Is it possible that '98 was less successful in the CdB than in
> the CdN?

It's possible of course but look, that was just one bottle of one wine! I'd
hesitate to extrapolate from it to the whole region, or even to Lafarge 98s.
(I've had good luck with Lafarge wines in the past.)

That particular wine had unusual aromas that I found unattractive. (Favor
structure was solid if unexciting.) I was trying to identify a faint smell
in it -- lacking anything that fit well I wrote almost mildewey, or sour
cherry -- efforts to name things with at least related olfactory footprints.
Not necessarily a flaw. It may have been in a bad phase, or had bottle
variation (by the way, my tasting groups seem to encounter lower rates of
cork taint today than a few years ago -- that's anecdotal info of course)
and finally, the wine was in pretty rich company.