Apple and spice aromas. Plenty of acid on palate came through right way on palate, equally prominent with the fruit today. This is at a very good place right now.

Yeasty and bready styled Champagne, clearly a well made and powerful wine in that style, with lots of ripe fruit, but it's just not my preferred style of Champagne.

Quite advanced, but not quite to the level of what we think of pre-maturely oxidized white Burgundy. Still showing good acidity, but not much to start or on the mid-palate. Overall quite simple, not showing the density I expect from Grand Cru in a good vintage. A shadow of where this tasted just a few years ago...or is this a bad bottle?

I didn't get to try this at last night's dinner, then voila, it was here again tonight! Big, fat fruit aromas that implied lots of ripeness and heat. More subdued and textured on the palate with an interesting elegance and balance. Still just a baby.

From magnum. Starts with charming brown baking spice aromas. Red fruit and earthy flavors on palate, but simpler and more mature than I would expect from a top Vosne 1998 1er, especially in large format.

Lots of red fruit aromas and flavors, not quite as fresh as the best 1996s today. Very good spice complement. Lean and precise from middle to finish. Definitely needs more time to integrate and soften.

From magnum. Brawny and rugged aromas. Good balance of red fruit and earth on both palate and nose. Shut down in glass after about 30 minutes.

From magnum. Black fruit aromas with rustic spice. Similarly black fruit flavors that are somewhat backward and didn't come across as perfectly pristine tonight.

Black cherry aromas with licorice, allspice and cocoa aromas. Palate showed black and red cherry flavors, also dense and spice-driven. Great power and nuance emerges on finish.

From magnum, popped and poured. This is from very old vines, and i think the bottle would have benefited from a couple of hours in a decanter. Musty to start, with dense black cherry aromas emerging after 10-15 minutes along with dark, brooding spice. Meaty and gamy character became increasingly interesting every extra minute in glass.

Mature black cherry and plum aromas with an assertive barnyard edge, seeming on the borderline between ripe and over-ripe. Big spice profile made this moderately interesting to me. Others liked this much more than I did tonight.

Black cherry aromas with liqueur hints and licorice. Flavors of black cherry and plum with plenty of assertive structure today, showing prominent tannins and acidity. No question this powerful wine has lots of potential, but i wouldn't revisit this for at least another 5 years, probably another 10 years.

Last night a friend brought a 6L to dinner. There were several decanters of this wine remaining when I left, so I asked for one decanter to be poured into a bottle for me to take home...and here we are trying it once again 24 hours later. Black fruit from start-to-finish with charming sweet spice. Slightly longer and more balanced than last night.

Peach and apricot aromas and flavors in a demi-sec style. Brown sugar start followed by good acidity and energy to its finish. I'd have liked more nuance.