Tons of upfront tropical fruit...peaches, mangos, grapefruit, and lanolin. The palate was really nice, and we all remarked at the interesting salinity that hit on the finish. I really liked this, and went back for 2 or 3 (or maybe 4) more pours across the night. Jemore's Viognier is always a treat, and this vintage is yum city.

I closed my eyes, and thought to myself, "wow, this is what Chateauneuf-de-Pape smell like?" I opened my eyes and saw the 1998 Vieux Télégraphe. So much brambly red fruit with dried floral notes, and earth. Still had a really nice power to it, too. Was a big fan of this wine...and it has a lot of upside to it, too.

corked.

A stunning wine. So much going on here with tons of secondary and tertiary notes of earth, florals, red fruits, and stone. Jim mentioned that it was more like a Burgundy with its elegant floral notes, and I'd have to agree. Still had a great backbone, and the depth of flavor was just off-the-charts.

Interestingly, the only other time I had had this wine was at the same restaurant 2 years earlier. On this night, I wasn't as entranced by it as I was then. This was still a beautiful, magical wine that had incredible power and charm. The dark fruit were sappy and dense, the earthiness was pungent and it had an ever present acidity to it that kept the fullness and the power in check. This is a great bottle of wine. I think it's still on the trajectory to reach the level of the 1982 with more time.

Any edgy and raw Hermitage that seemed downright acidic and rustic next to the 1998 Chave. This was more about the pepper and florals - less about the meat, olives, and dark fruit. I think there's a lot of upside to this.

I am not a fan of JLC's newer Cornas'. They're too slick and modern. This was a glimpse into the past in a way...and I liked this a lot more. There was a lot of smokey earth, dark fruit and some underbrush. Definitely more rustic than new JLCs, but still on the modern side. Decent.

This was my first time trying Jim's Late Harvest viognier. Liked it a lot. The density was tuned up, the sweetness was tuned up and so was the acidity. Lots of peach and mango...gorgeous texture too, and just so delicious.