Large-scale and bold wine with overt wood and polished fruit at this stage. Meat, pepper and smoke notes are there, just way in the background. Clear potential with another 10-15 years of cellaring. My #4/5 in the flight.

Single blind. Nicely floral aromatics with olive and a unique grapefruit pith. Texturally approachable and seamless, but the nuances are minimal with some light olive notes. Needs a decade. My #2/5. Thought this was the Gonon due to its relative approachability.

Single blind. Aromatically this improved with time in the glass, yielding some meat, olive and black pepper notes. The palate starts open-knit with lovely florals and black pepper, but is quite truncated by a gritty structured finish. Another wine that needs 10-15 years. My #1/5. Guessed Alemand for it's relatively open-knit start.

Single blind. The most intensely meaty florals of the flight. On the palate, I also picked up more overt meat / bacon notes with some florals. Felt the most evolved of the flight, but still a decade short of maturity. My #3/5. Guessed Jamet because of the bacony note.

Single blind. Well, this wine was all over the place and much of that not in a great way -- nail polish and glossy fruit with at least the perception of vanilla oak. Shrill and tight. One can only hope/believe, this is far too young and needs another 10+ years of cellaring. My #5/5. Guessed Gangloff.

Presently showing ripe and candied with a mix of berry fruit. There is freshness and structure to carry the fruit. Some interesting white pepper notes in the otherwise monolithic palate. Needs 10+ years in this large-scaled vintage.

Just barely corked. Not a lot of TCA but enough and the wine was otherwise stripped.

Attractive black fruit and bacon fat aromatics. Rich, big palate that is more sweet and less meaty at this stage with a wood influence that I'm not crazy about. Needs a decade to come together.

Wow, gorgeous and effusive aromas of black fruit, meat, black pepper, spice and florals. Decadent palate with layers and layers of meaty fruit with plenty of structure to support. Delicious enough and a clear WOTF for current enjoyment, but the greatness will truly come out in 10+ years.

Super interesting and evolved aromas of mature, bloody black fruit laced with herbs and meatiness. Rustic palate with some grittiness and brininess that all hangs together quite nicely.

Tasted a bit muddled and demure relative to the 97 served side-by-side and my prior experiences with this wine. Good enough, but 1998 Chave should not be simply good. Questionable bottle IMHO.

A stunning wine that is totally in the zone. Explosive nose of meaty black fruit with intense black pepper. Palate is seamless with rich, concentrated fruit that dazzles with Northern Rhone complexity. At peak and along with the 98 La Turque my WOTN.

Corked. Ugh, bummer is this smelled so good when the cork was pulled a few hours ahead of service, but alas the TCA bloom was profound and devastating.

Excellent evolved N Rhone character, and perhaps a bit more elegant and classic than I might have imagined for this producer. Lovely wine at peak.

Served alongside the La Landonne and La Turque, and something is clearly off here as the bottle tastes more advanced/oxidized. Bummer.

Lightly corked yet this had so much rich fruit and meatiness it almost fought off the TCA.

Wow, benchmark mature Northern Rhone. Explosive and effusive nose with so much meaty, spicy, peppery black fruit. The palate is still so fresh and youthful yet laced with an array of meat, pepper, floral and spice nuances. Seamless and long finish.

94/87/86. Super interesting wine that is showing plenty of complexity and nuance but the fruit is still so youthful and even primary in many ways. Let's call it an early peak with upside from here.

I don't hear much about 1987 N. Rhone, but this was an exceptional wine in my top three tonight. At peak and so expressive yet still packs a punch. Makes a strong case for 35+ years of cellaring.

94/87/86. Overshadowed by the more complete 1987, but this is no slouch in terms of the complexity and nuance that comes with aging. A touch more evolved and lightweight relative to the 87.

Late night PnP and this was an exception to the rule, where young wines did not showing expressively (be that the producer style or our relative palate fatigue after 20 N. Rhones). Having said that, you can't deny the silky approachability of this wine combined with clear/intense meat, olive and black pepper nuances that the earlier 2012s did not yet have.