Community Tasting Note

Cailles wrote:

Sunday, December 18, 2022 - 16x Right Bank Bordeaux 1998: Almost 25 years later, it’s a great time to check in on the wines of the much lauded right bank vintage. All wines tasted single blind. A few observations: A) most wines showed quite open with a melted tannin structure, but still good tension across the board. B) The highlight was rather on the structural side (elegance and finesse in most wines), than on the aromatic depth side, which was limited, also due to… C) …the fact that there is limited tertiary expression yet. Most wines will need at least another 5 to rather 10 years to reach their peak. D) An average rating of 91.9pts in my book and 92.0pts for the group shows that despite a few highlights, the reception was mixed overall. E) Best wines today were Angelus (group average 94.9pts), Valandraud (94.4) and Cheval Blanc (94.0). I would put L’Evangile (rated 95pts) in the top category too but the group (average 92.6) was less enthusiastic.

TN: Medium+ expressive dark fruited nose with forest floor and earthy notes, some herbs. With time toasty notes and coffee. Elegant and inviting. On the palate there are plenty of dark berries, dark red berries, toasty notes, earthy aromas. With time more red berries. Well-defined and very harmonious. Melted tannins, good tension and freshness with a velvety texture. Weightless. Medium length. Overall a great wine and my WOTN thanks to the highest complexity, the best definition combined with the most weightless structure and feel. A fantastic wine that is starting to drinking at its peak but it will certainly add more teritary aromas over the coming years becoming even a touch better. The wine got 4 votes for WOTN and 11 out of 16 people rated it 95 pts or higher, more than any other wine.

Decanting: Decanted for probably 3-4 hours which worked perfectly.

Group score: 94.4
Group rank: 2nd out of 16 reds

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