Excellent. A pleasant surprise, given some of the underwhelming recent reviews. Great complexity and a long finish. Definitely not a "fruit bomb", but still had plenty of stuffing. From a maturity standpoint, I would guess this is a bit past its peak, but probably has a few good years left.
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Wonderfully perfumey, raisin, anise, oxidative sherry notes, underlying Grenache/Syrah backbone which became more apparent as it opened up. Opened with a bit if a barrel aged ale funk that cleared after 10-20 minutes. It also threw off quite a bit of sediment (unsurprising for a 22 year old vintage).
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Labor Day family dinner outside. From memory. Garnet with rusty tint. Nose of garrigue, black pepper, lavender. Still vigorous on the palate with layers of peppery plum, earth, Rosemary, and sweet grip. Moderated tannin and ample acidity. Longer finish of garrigue and smoky plum. Aging well.
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Showing very well with good faded dark ruby and light amber edge; classic black licorice, almost bitter anise, old cherry syrup/kirsch, slick, gycerin, pot-pouri notes; Great shape, doing very well, but the Negly Porte du Ciel and SHL did much better with the rack of lamb. EWG Entre Nous. 91-92
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Last tasted nine years ago, there were similarities in my notes, but clearly this is a much different wine, though still performing well at 21 years. Certainly there was a lot going on. Rich concentrated black fruits with a meaty characteristic and some earthiness. Blackberries, plums, black raspberries, blueberries, chocolate, licorice, and hints of spice and floral. A full bodied wine with nice complexity and a long finish.
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Similar notes to last time. Sulphuric/reductive nose at first that blew off after about 10 minutes. Tar and blackberry on the nose. Cherry and anise flavour developed after about a half hour. Lots to chew on but pretty monolithic. Fully mature it seems. Score: 89. Relative to expectations: 0
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Not very subtle. Bashes you over the head with dark cherry, root beer/ cola, mocha, sweet spice, driven by enough alcohol and tannin to torpedo the Bismarck. Good fun. A dreadnought of a wine. Pair fearlessly with anything, it will be victorious. Seems close to maturity, more like a perpetual teenager. Score: 90. Relative to expectations: 0
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From MG; fresh, clean, focused. There is alcohol here, certainly, kirsch galore, it is not a shy wine, but it is still very much alive and fresh - from this format. #dinnerparty
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Colour: Dark, very deep... Rusty edge... Nose: Initially cabbage, but it slowly faded... Replaced by sweet blackberries and rosemary... Taste: Touch of cabbage... But lots of power. Still a great mix of fruit and acidity. Black chocolate & coffee...
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Capping off a weekend with Alexis (Osteria Nino Huntington, NY): Tasted blind, I guessed Nebbiolo from the mid 90's at first and later commented that it seemed more French than Italian. Mostly resolved - showing a mix of secondary and tertiary elements. Would have liked to try with food.
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Clear dark red colour. Nose of berries and currants. On the palate, smooth and mature. Tasted alone, I really liked this. But with leg of lamb and summer veg, it was just too rich on the finish and we had to open something else to match the meal. I think this is what people mean by a fruit bomb - would perform briliantly at a tasting against other wines, but not ideal with most meals. I think this wine is at its best right now, but should hold for a couple of years at least. If you like this kind of thing, perhaps 95, but I can't rate it as it wasn't right for me tonight.
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Popped and poured, drank it over 1-2 hours. Glorious CDP with fading/bricking color, soaring aromas of herbs, lavender, leather with subtle red fruits. Palate does not disappoint with gamey notes and nice interplay between the spice and fruit duet. Didn't even check alcohol content as it did not matter with this majestic bottle of wine. Held up well over the 2 hours. Quite a bit of sediment as expected. Would not wait to open if you have some.
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SO'd for a couple of hrs then double decanted, light ruby with brick on the edge, red fruit with soft tannins, mod/long finish; still delicious but time to drink up.
Improved with a little more time (air); I suspect it will last for another couple of more years
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Youthful looking but the nose reveals secondary aromas of garrigue pepper and earth mixed with black fruits. Fresh and energetic on the palate - a refreshing wine that hides it's alcohol.
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Decanted one hour. Delicious. Bright red and purple fruits, smooth, creamy, nuanced, green-herbed, smoky, graphite, and especially glycerine laden. This bottle young even (compared to previous bottles), though I think this is just hitting its plateau. Still a bit fruit driven for my tastes, especially after the 96 Bordeaux that started things off. With braised lamb shanks, which was a beautiful pairing. Excellent, if you like this style. 94pts pure quality, 92 pts personal preference.
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Much finer this time from a single bottle; it is mature, but still quite cool and vibrant, lots of body, sweet fruit, but quite a firm backbone. There is a black core here that suggest, that the wine could go on, but i do not see it improving. (with PB après Enomania)
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PNP. One of the best wines I've ever tasted. Dark fruit and very perfumed on the nose. No lack of fruit on the pallete, and the finish goes on forever. WOTN for me. Absolutely phenomenal.
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Dark sweet fruit, dark earth, and increasing amounts of sweet spice with air time. An overall sweetness to the wine as the ripeness shows, but reasonably well balanced by other elements after 17 years.
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Drier than the bottle two months ago. Distinct metallic and iodine notes on the nose and palate. Subtle black fruit and dry soil tones. Falls short on fundamental complexity and depth
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Last bottle out of 6. Still great, with a dense and complex nose of red cherries, coffee, and some tertiary aromas of forest floor. Still very good sweetness on the midpalate, with finely grained tannins which have not entirely melted away. Great acidity and very, very long finish (+1 min). Some people guessed good Merlot from Bordeaux Right Bank 1998, which I can understand from the plump fruit and sweetness, but the nose gives it away in my opinion.
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Opened two (then three) '98 Chateauneuf's for a nice roasted chicken dinner at home with the wife and all the boys. This and Vieux Telegraph disappointing so I had to open a third (and the best) -- Beaucastel.
Color: light ruby core -> diffuse garnet rim. Somewhat muted nose of plums, stewed fruit and a little CDP spice. Detected a note of oxidation that unfortunately followed through on the palate. Stewed fruit and licorice with a velvety texture, I just can't get past the oxidation; this tastes like a wine that has been opened and left out on the counter for 2-3 days. There seems to be a large number of people with my experience of this wine (which I bought from a reputable dealer on release); either it's amazing juice or toast. Tonight, mine was toast. Not rated.
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Still super sweet, concentrated and tannic after 17 years. If one likes this style, I can see how it could be rated higher, but while a well-made wine, this one lacks depth in my opinion. I'll save my remaining bottles for at least a few years.
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Drank at Home The joys of trying a second bottle. There is a lot of barnyard on the nose of this wine that takes a while in Decanter to blow off. Put then it really sings of true old vine CNDP with an amazing complexity. You just keep having to go back this wine to see how it evolves. Amazing stuff and if you have the right bottle it really sings. Traditional winemaking is evident here.
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Roberto 50 (Søllerød Kro): Served from magnum, brought from my cellar vis-a-vis the 1998 Clos des Papes, this was a grave disappointment; while full bodied and rich, this one totally lost out to the elegant sibling, it seems heated and overdone. Could have been a somewhat off bottle - or just the Janasse-style fallen apart
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Tonight this was really quite delicious. Rich, candied red fruit with some tertiary notes of stewed fruit making an appearance, along with garrigue, damp earth, white pepper, some anise and some rather firm, but ripe and fine grained tannins on the long finish. Stunning!
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My favorite of three wines this evening. Nice bretty ripe touch, wonderful complexity, perfectly mature. Ditto the tobacco and fig elements noted below. This has a subtlety and elegance I see all too rarely these days in ChdP. A distinctly fine wine.
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Medium color not betraying any maturity. Savory tobacco nose followed by riper elements. Medium weight, very clean. As it opens, it takes on a fig note that reminds you that it is Janasse and it is 1998. Very good nonetheless and demonstrates that surmaturite 15 years ago was still a lot less exaggerated than it is in contemporary hot vintages.
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Popped and poured. Brilliant garnet with some purple. Fresh nose of blackberry, lilac, garrigue, peppercorns, earthy smells. Lively on the palate with surprisingly primary briary blackberry and strawberry fruit vying with layers of pepper and olive tampenade. Moderate acidity and firm tannins leading to a long finish laced with garrigue and sweet grip. Interesting but balanced mix of heartiness and smooth texture; the wine showed quite young. A surprisingly nice pairing with couscous.
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La Janasse at The Oxford Wine Circle (Oxford University): According to Christophe Sabon, 1998 was a great vintage with a weird evolution: from age 0 to 3, the 1998s were outgoing, fruity, and round; then, those wines entered a weird phase to get down an oxidative road. Today, those wines unleash their greatness and get back to what could have at first been expected from them... and, indeed, this Janasse Vieilles Vignes 1998 behaves extremelly nicely but, to me, it's less structured than the 2001.
Medium ruby, maturing edge. Strong secondary perfume of thyme and rosemary joined by black raspberry and fig. Just a touch of pruniness and VA. Ripe, medium to full body. Its sweetness is held in check by a core of tobacco and good acidity. This comes across as more classic and less overblown and woody than more recent vintages. Very good.
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Sunday with Warso: This bottle was abit off, though still drinkable. The pretty red fruit, garrigue and tapenade undertones were still present, but muted by the slight oxidized notes that permeated throughout.
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Wine was cloudy. Soft with primary red fruit, hard to seep rate all the favors, seemed a little muddied. No offputting avors, just never took off. I was expecting more. Bought from Brentwood auction. No way to confirm its history.
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This is drinking really well. Picked from storage fridge, opened and poured. Surprisingly dark but with some hint of lightening / bricking at the edge of the glass. Dark fruits on the nose with some pepper and spice - as the wine warmed from cellar temp became even more expressive. The palate is so soft and seamless - I think benefitted from being on the cool side at first - it added to the freshness. Lots of sweet fruit, but no over the top blockbuster, it has a lightness and completeness that makes it so easy to drink. The finish is long and complex. A really enjoyable wine and so much better from my last bottle 3 years ago.
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Quite brilliant and I would say one of the best chateaneuf de papes I have ever had. Luxurious and deep yet light, mature and seamless. There is no massive wall of fruit, it has melted away to leave a pashmina-soft blanket of chocolate-like fruit supported by a whispy light structure. Brilliant.
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Beautiful mature and lush bouquet with beautiful fruits and spiciness. On the palate a pleasant touch of sweetness, beautiful acidity and spiciness and soft and round tannin. This is so harmonious, complex and tempting and very elegant. A truly great wine. Ready now, no hurry.
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Game and Rhone Tasting @ Peggy's (Villa Reynart, Opoeteren): Much more complete and complexe that the preceding Chaupin 98. Good matter and substance, animalism and earthyness. Maybe just a little to sweet, but all-in-all pretty impressive. 17,5/20
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What a nice surprise. Until this tasting, this has not been my favorite Chateauneuf du Pape. But that changed with this bottle! It took almost 14 years, but clearly, it was worth the wait, even if it was my last bottle. With a deep color that made me think this wine was only a few years old, intense aromas of licorice, garrigue, black plums, cherries, kirsch, pepper, earth and spice, the offered an explosion of flavor and sensuous, deep textures. The long, concentrated finish delivered layers of lush, pure, ripe, spicy, dark berries.
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This started out compressed, with early tannin limiting the flavor development and pleasure. However, with air this took on a more expected form, with a just slightly exotic nose of kirsch, forest floor, and five-spice. There's more raisin on the palate, although the overripeness is reined in. Alltogether this does come across as quite primary and likely to benefit from some additional years of aging.
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An Eclectic Evening of Ups and Downs (Heirloom Cafe, San Francisco): Dark and primary. Modern nose with fruit and licorice. Very sappy wine with darker black fruit core. Although large scaled, it is kept in check by good acidity. Delicious now but little in the way of secondary development.
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An exquisite bottle of wine tonight.Soft, well integrated black fruit with underlying cherry that almost has a candied aspect to it along with garrigue, loamy earth, white pepper and soft dusty tannins on the nearly minute long finish. Abit bretty on opening that blew off about an hour after double decanting. Drinking perfectly right now
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CH9 1998 Horisontal (MG work): Nose: Pine and aged meat, stewed cherry fruit and quite overripe. Palate: Overripe cherry fruit with very pronounced acidity. Still very young and powerful!
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Best bottle so far of this gorgeous wine. Perfect cork with no running or sapping. Fully open nose from the beginning. Mature, elegant notes of flowers, ink, a touch of pepper and tons of red fruit, More Burgundy than CnDP this time! Lovely balance in the mouth, very sweet, and flowing easily over the palate. Totally harmonious over the entire palate. Long finish. Just a great wine in a great spot. WIll drink my last bottle out of six within the next 6 months, no reason to wait until the Grenache oxidizes...
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Dark ruby red. A lot of black fruits on the nose with pronounced alcohol, a little black pepper. There was quite a bit of very ripe blackberry, brambleberry, fig, licorice. The finish was a bit hot with mouth coating tannins. I liked this but my taste in CDP runs more to red than black fruit profile and this was a little over the top for me. I would have liked more acid to balance the ripe fruit. Maybe this will calm down in time. I think it showed the vintage character quite well.
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Fantastic wine. Strong vanilla aromas mixed with black pepper and ripe black currant. High viscosity, almost oily texture but in an elegant way. Long. May keep for another couple of years but the wine is definitely in its drinking window now. Lots of sediment.
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The wine offers wood, ripe back fruit, jam, pepper and herbal aromatics. This powerful wine is filled with ripe, jammy fruit and spice. But the oak distracted from the wine. In this case in both the nose and in the mouth. People who like this style will rate probably rate it higher.
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Lots of sediment here, so decanting is advised. Medium red colour, bright and clear. Outstanding nose of sweet red fruit (cherries and raspberries), a touch of raw meat and reduced stock, almost inky. Very elegant nose with absolutely no oxidisation which often is found in older granache. Light bodied, with persistent mouthfeel. Still a lot of tannins, a bit unbalanced since the fruit is quite soft. I would like to see more fruit or less tannins. Since there is no oxidisation I would bet the wine will continue to develop in bottle. I will wait with the other two at least 2-3 years.
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Tasting Group Dinner - Chateauneuf at Heidi's (Heidi's & Our House, Minneapolis): Consistent with prior TN. Tasted alongside the '98 Roger Sabon Cuvee Prestige (see TN), the '98 Janasse VV was bigger and riper, yet also fresher on the palate. Sweet dark fruit and complex secondary flavors. A faint touch of heat on the finish. This bottle was fairly well evolved and if I owned any more of these (which I don't), I would be drinking them up relatively soon.
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Uncorked.dk does 1998 Chateauneuf-du-Pape (and a few other gems) (Restaurant Premisse, Copenhagen): Red core with a light slightly brown rim. Obvious sediment. Very sweet and intense nose of smoke, incense, brown sugar, lavender and sweet strawberries. Nice intensity and decent balance in spite of a huge sweetness. Very earthy and one of the tastings most mature wines. No competition for the previous heats.
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Thanksgiving w/ family and friends. Popped and poured. Big, ripe, and concentrated. Fruit-forward and sweet, but plenty of structure lurking underneath the dark fruit. Really needs a few more years in the cellar.
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Medium ruby with paler edge. Slow, steady crescendo of aromas with caramel and strawberry fruit showcased early with gradual introduction of herbal notes and camphor. Sorry to wax alliterative, but sexy, sappy, and seamless on the palate with great length and not the slightest sense of overripeness or overextraction. Yes, this is a relatively fruit-driven style, but what fruit it is! This is a relatively low acid wine that works because of the creaminess of the fruit and restrained alcohol. In short, gorgeous and just beginning to develop some secondary notes.
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Opened two bottles over an extended family dinner of lamb stew. Medium maroon with a touch of garnet. Very ripe. Plum, black licorice, and blackberry fruit. Just a hint of VA in the background. Some funk/horse on the midpalate. Well-developed leathery/smoky/peppery secondary flavors. Finishes with a touch of oak. Delicious; an impressive showing for this very modern-styled CDP.
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No formal note. Complex nose showing red-toned fruit, leather and smoke. On the palate, full bodied with reasonably seamless tannins, reasonable acidity, well balanced but fruit comes across as a little overdone and pruney. Nevertheless, very good.
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Steak tartar. Beautiful, young wine. Full of bright fruit and lots of spice and terrific complexity. A real pleasure to drink. Ready now but long life ahead.
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A seriously heavy hitter, this has layers and layers of fruit, plum jam, blackberry, kirsch and hints of bacon, laced with dried herbs and white pepper. Beatifully textured, with very supple tannins and a 1 minute finish. The alcohol (14.5% on the label, probably more in reality) is completely integrated and we had no problem at all finishing the bottle rather quickly. Superb.
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Lunch With In-Laws; Janasse VV 98, Clos des Pape 94: Well I couldn't resist any longer, and popped my first bottle, should I have waited longer, probably, do I regret it, no. Though not as fantastic as the first time I tried this (a the Grand Cascade terrible meal, huge row with the Princess, but fantastic wine!) this is top-drawer stuff. Full of rich warming fruit, in such a concentrated seamless package that it almost defies the Bacchic laws, certainly its rude enough too be termed adult entertainment. Probably going though just a small change of life, it wasn’t quite as exuberant as two years ago, but you can feel the hidden depths emerging, I'm going to hold off on the other two.
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Give a thoroughbred CdP like this one some airtime and it is bound to astound you. After only half an hour in the decanter this adolescent wine was hitting high C's like Carusso. It is the quintessential Chateauneuf, the angular stone that locks the arch together. Somewhere between the heavenly Hommage a Jacques Perrin and a simply outstanding CdP in terms of quality, this medium bodied grand cru equivalent of the Southern Rhone offers an unbelieveably distinctive nose of compote, black pepper and anise, followed by a delicate palate with dark cherries, ripe raspberries, sandalwood, Hermes leather and more, crowned by a long beautiful finish. 96 points indeed, but I counsel patience. Ah yes, no brett here.
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Rhônes and dinner with Robert Parker (Baltimore, MD): Very distinct. Peppery and powerful on the nose, reductive. The palate was awash with white pepper and kirsch and showed amazing power. This wine needs a lot of time to open up.
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noticably focused and well structured. developed well in the glass. red and black fruits. easy to guess southern rhone. tight. look out 10 years from now.
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Dinner in Munich with Jacqueline and Stefan -- from Magnum! Showed great but slightly subdued at this dinner back in '02. A gentle soft fruitiness, with warm wet stones and classic earthy CdP character.
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9/25/2021 - Valaprop Likes this wine: 93 Points
Excellent. A pleasant surprise, given some of the underwhelming recent reviews. Great complexity and a long finish. Definitely not a "fruit bomb", but still had plenty of stuffing. From a maturity standpoint, I would guess this is a bit past its peak, but probably has a few good years left.
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9/14/2020 - CLL Likes this wine: 97 Points
Wonderfully perfumey, raisin, anise, oxidative sherry notes, underlying Grenache/Syrah backbone which became more apparent as it opened up. Opened with a bit if a barrel aged ale funk that cleared after 10-20 minutes. It also threw off quite a bit of sediment (unsurprising for a 22 year old vintage).
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9/10/2020 - DougLee wrote: 92 Points
Labor Day family dinner outside. From memory. Garnet with rusty tint. Nose of garrigue, black pepper, lavender. Still vigorous on the palate with layers of peppery plum, earth, Rosemary, and sweet grip. Moderated tannin and ample acidity. Longer finish of garrigue and smoky plum. Aging well.
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7/14/2019 - peternelson wrote: 91 Points
Showing very well with good faded dark ruby and light amber edge; classic black licorice, almost bitter anise, old cherry syrup/kirsch, slick, gycerin, pot-pouri notes; Great shape, doing very well, but the Negly Porte du Ciel and SHL did much better with the rack of lamb. EWG Entre Nous. 91-92
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6/22/2019 - buckeye76 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Last tasted nine years ago, there were similarities in my notes, but clearly this is a much different wine, though still performing well at 21 years. Certainly there was a lot going on. Rich concentrated black fruits with a meaty characteristic and some earthiness. Blackberries, plums, black raspberries, blueberries, chocolate, licorice, and hints of spice and floral. A full bodied wine with nice complexity and a long finish.
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2/3/2019 - JJYoyo Likes this wine: 89 Points
Similar notes to last time. Sulphuric/reductive nose at first that blew off after about 10 minutes. Tar and blackberry on the nose. Cherry and anise flavour developed after about a half hour. Lots to chew on but pretty monolithic. Fully mature it seems.
Score: 89. Relative to expectations: 0
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12/25/2018 - Backdoctor wrote: 90 Points
Pop and pour. Some bricking. It is definitely on the end of it's life but opened up nicely after 30 minutes. Everyone enjoyed it.
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10/14/2018 - JJYoyo Likes this wine: 90 Points
Not very subtle. Bashes you over the head with dark cherry, root beer/ cola, mocha, sweet spice, driven by enough alcohol and tannin to torpedo the Bismarck. Good fun. A dreadnought of a wine. Pair fearlessly with anything, it will be victorious. Seems close to maturity, more like a perpetual teenager.
Score: 90. Relative to expectations: 0
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10/13/2018 - beatles wrote: 91 Points
From MG; fresh, clean, focused. There is alcohol here, certainly, kirsch galore, it is not a shy wine, but it is still very much alive and fresh - from this format.
#dinnerparty
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4/7/2018 - pinot_glenn Likes this wine: 91 Points
Dark cooked fruit, leather, earthy barnyard.
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12/19/2017 - seppej wrote: 94 Points
Hmmm... Initially cabbage in the nose :-(
Colour: Dark, very deep... Rusty edge...
Nose: Initially cabbage, but it slowly faded... Replaced by sweet blackberries and rosemary...
Taste: Touch of cabbage... But lots of power. Still a great mix of fruit and acidity. Black chocolate & coffee...
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7/15/2017 - tinybubbles wrote: 89 Points
Underbrush and soil tones dominating over dark fruit in this bottle. Pervasive clove and cardamom across the palate. Lower energy finish.
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5/21/2017 - VDLT Wine Likes this wine:
Capping off a weekend with Alexis (Osteria Nino Huntington, NY): Tasted blind, I guessed Nebbiolo from the mid 90's at first and later commented that it seemed more French than Italian. Mostly resolved - showing a mix of secondary and tertiary elements. Would have liked to try with food.
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5/20/2017 - SimonS wrote:
Clear dark red colour. Nose of berries and currants. On the palate, smooth and mature. Tasted alone, I really liked this. But with leg of lamb and summer veg, it was just too rich on the finish and we had to open something else to match the meal. I think this is what people mean by a fruit bomb - would perform briliantly at a tasting against other wines, but not ideal with most meals. I think this wine is at its best right now, but should hold for a couple of years at least. If you like this kind of thing, perhaps 95, but I can't rate it as it wasn't right for me tonight.
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5/7/2017 - Frank Schneider wrote: 95 Points
Big Ch9 tasting
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2/27/2017 - pinot_glenn Likes this wine: 92 Points
brownish/red color, highly oxidized. Chocolate, balsamic, smooth, complex. Drink now
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10/2/2016 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 91 Points
Generally consistent with previous. Benefited from 45 minute decant.
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8/13/2016 - vinocerus Likes this wine:
Popped and poured, drank it over 1-2 hours. Glorious CDP with fading/bricking color, soaring aromas of herbs, lavender, leather with subtle red fruits. Palate does not disappoint with gamey notes and nice interplay between the spice and fruit duet. Didn't even check alcohol content as it did not matter with this majestic bottle of wine. Held up well over the 2 hours. Quite a bit of sediment as expected. Would not wait to open if you have some.
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4/15/2016 - jsmorris707 Likes this wine: 96 Points
SO'd for a couple of hrs then double decanted, light ruby with brick on the edge, red fruit with soft tannins, mod/long finish; still delicious but time to drink up.
Improved with a little more time (air); I suspect it will last for another couple of more years
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3/8/2016 - beatles wrote:
Overdone, pruny, boiled, basicly gone; quite similar to my impression at Søllerød (that was from magnum then).
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2/14/2016 - CHINACAT wrote: 92 Points
Still plenty of fruit, good complexity and quite a bit of acidity, but the texture was a bit lean. Not as good as some bottles I have had in the past.
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2/13/2016 - stephen locke Likes this wine: 93 Points
Youthful looking but the nose reveals secondary aromas of garrigue pepper and earth mixed with black fruits. Fresh and energetic on the palate - a refreshing wine that hides it's alcohol.
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1/29/2016 - cadamson wrote: 85 Points
Dark fruits, initially reasonably expressive on the nose, but ultimately way too thick and plummy on the palate.
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12/12/2015 - sawira wrote: 94 Points
Decanted one hour. Delicious. Bright red and purple fruits, smooth, creamy, nuanced, green-herbed, smoky, graphite, and especially glycerine laden. This bottle young even (compared to previous bottles), though I think this is just hitting its plateau. Still a bit fruit driven for my tastes, especially after the 96 Bordeaux that started things off. With braised lamb shanks, which was a beautiful pairing. Excellent, if you like this style. 94pts pure quality, 92 pts personal preference.
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11/9/2015 - beatles Likes this wine: 93 Points
Much finer this time from a single bottle; it is mature, but still quite cool and vibrant, lots of body, sweet fruit, but quite a firm backbone. There is a black core here that suggest, that the wine could go on, but i do not see it improving. (with PB après Enomania)
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9/26/2015 - bobadopolis Likes this wine: 96 Points
PNP. One of the best wines I've ever tasted. Dark fruit and very perfumed on the nose. No lack of fruit on the pallete, and the finish goes on forever. WOTN for me. Absolutely phenomenal.
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9/13/2015 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 92 Points
Dark sweet fruit, dark earth, and increasing amounts of sweet spice with air time. An overall sweetness to the wine as the ripeness shows, but reasonably well balanced by other elements after 17 years.
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8/7/2015 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 89 Points
Drier than the bottle two months ago. Distinct metallic and iodine notes on the nose and palate. Subtle black fruit and dry soil tones. Falls short on fundamental complexity and depth
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7/25/2015 - WilD wrote: 93 Points
Great developed C9dP. Nice acid, tertiar aromas, forestdamp,mushrooms. Great stuff.
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6/9/2015 - UTPK wrote:
Last bottle out of 6. Still great, with a dense and complex nose of red cherries, coffee, and some tertiary aromas of forest floor. Still very good sweetness on the midpalate, with finely grained tannins which have not entirely melted away. Great acidity and very, very long finish (+1 min). Some people guessed good Merlot from Bordeaux Right Bank 1998, which I can understand from the plump fruit and sweetness, but the nose gives it away in my opinion.
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5/18/2015 - BVal wrote:
Opened two (then three) '98 Chateauneuf's for a nice roasted chicken dinner at home with the wife and all the boys. This and Vieux Telegraph disappointing so I had to open a third (and the best) -- Beaucastel.
Color: light ruby core -> diffuse garnet rim. Somewhat muted nose of plums, stewed fruit and a little CDP spice. Detected a note of oxidation that unfortunately followed through on the palate. Stewed fruit and licorice with a velvety texture, I just can't get past the oxidation; this tastes like a wine that has been opened and left out on the counter for 2-3 days. There seems to be a large number of people with my experience of this wine (which I bought from a reputable dealer on release); either it's amazing juice or toast. Tonight, mine was toast. Not rated.
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4/29/2015 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 92 Points
Still super sweet, concentrated and tannic after 17 years. If one likes this style, I can see how it could be rated higher, but while a well-made wine, this one lacks depth in my opinion. I'll save my remaining bottles for at least a few years.
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4/5/2015 - RayOB Likes this wine: 97 Points
Drank at Home
The joys of trying a second bottle. There is a lot of barnyard on the nose of this wine that takes a while in Decanter to blow off. Put then it really sings of true old vine CNDP with an amazing complexity. You just keep having to go back this wine to see how it evolves. Amazing stuff and if you have the right bottle it really sings. Traditional winemaking is evident here.
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12/31/2014 - RayOB wrote: flawed
Drank at Home
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6/23/2014 - beatles wrote: 88 Points
Roberto 50 (Søllerød Kro): Served from magnum, brought from my cellar vis-a-vis the 1998 Clos des Papes, this was a grave disappointment; while full bodied and rich, this one totally lost out to the elegant sibling, it seems heated and overdone. Could have been a somewhat off bottle - or just the Janasse-style fallen apart
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3/1/2014 - mmcdds Likes this wine: 94 Points
Tonight this was really quite delicious. Rich, candied red fruit with some tertiary notes of stewed fruit making an appearance, along with garrigue, damp earth, white pepper, some anise and some rather firm, but ripe and fine grained tannins on the long finish. Stunning!
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1/9/2014 - Leoville_2012 Likes this wine: 86 Points
rather dull and tired. advanced aromas despite a bottle in perfect condition (at least from the outside...)
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6/15/2013 - sawira wrote: 93 Points
My favorite of three wines this evening. Nice bretty ripe touch, wonderful complexity, perfectly mature. Ditto the tobacco and fig elements noted below. This has a subtlety and elegance I see all too rarely these days in ChdP. A distinctly fine wine.
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5/27/2013 - drwine2001 wrote:
Medium color not betraying any maturity. Savory tobacco nose followed by riper elements. Medium weight, very clean. As it opens, it takes on a fig note that reminds you that it is Janasse and it is 1998. Very good nonetheless and demonstrates that surmaturite 15 years ago was still a lot less exaggerated than it is in contemporary hot vintages.
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3/31/2013 - DougLee wrote: 93 Points
Popped and poured. Brilliant garnet with some purple. Fresh nose of blackberry, lilac, garrigue, peppercorns, earthy smells. Lively on the palate with surprisingly primary briary blackberry and strawberry fruit vying with layers of pepper and olive tampenade. Moderate acidity and firm tannins leading to a long finish laced with garrigue and sweet grip. Interesting but balanced mix of heartiness and smooth texture; the wine showed quite young. A surprisingly nice pairing with couscous.
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1/15/2013 - cr84 wrote: 95 Points
La Janasse at The Oxford Wine Circle (Oxford University): According to Christophe Sabon, 1998 was a great vintage with a weird evolution: from age 0 to 3, the 1998s were outgoing, fruity, and round; then, those wines entered a weird phase to get down an oxidative road. Today, those wines unleash their greatness and get back to what could have at first been expected from them... and, indeed, this Janasse Vieilles Vignes 1998 behaves extremelly nicely but, to me, it's less structured than the 2001.
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8/9/2012 - drwine2001 wrote:
Medium ruby, maturing edge. Strong secondary perfume of thyme and rosemary joined by black raspberry and fig. Just a touch of pruniness and VA. Ripe, medium to full body. Its sweetness is held in check by a core of tobacco and good acidity. This comes across as more classic and less overblown and woody than more recent vintages. Very good.
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7/1/2012 - mmcdds wrote: flawed
Sunday with Warso: This bottle was abit off, though still drinkable. The pretty red fruit, garrigue and tapenade undertones were still present, but muted by the slight oxidized notes that permeated throughout.
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4/10/2012 - pilot360 wrote: 86 Points
Wine was cloudy. Soft with primary red fruit, hard to seep rate all the favors, seemed a little muddied. No offputting avors, just never took off. I was expecting more. Bought from Brentwood auction. No way to confirm its history.
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4/7/2012 - guribh wrote:
spiced berries, confiture of red berries with kirsch. drink now and up to 5 years down the road.
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2/17/2012 - stephen locke wrote: 96 Points
This is drinking really well. Picked from storage fridge, opened and poured. Surprisingly dark but with some hint of lightening / bricking at the edge of the glass. Dark fruits on the nose with some pepper and spice - as the wine warmed from cellar temp became even more expressive. The palate is so soft and seamless - I think benefitted from being on the cool side at first - it added to the freshness. Lots of sweet fruit, but no over the top blockbuster, it has a lightness and completeness that makes it so easy to drink. The finish is long and complex.
A really enjoyable wine and so much better from my last bottle 3 years ago.
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12/28/2011 - pjaines wrote:
Quite brilliant and I would say one of the best chateaneuf de papes I have ever had. Luxurious and deep yet light, mature and seamless. There is no massive wall of fruit, it has melted away to leave a pashmina-soft blanket of chocolate-like fruit supported by a whispy light structure. Brilliant.
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11/26/2011 - Zweder wrote: 96 Points
Beautiful mature and lush bouquet with beautiful fruits and spiciness. On the palate a pleasant touch of sweetness, beautiful acidity and spiciness and soft and round tannin. This is so harmonious, complex and tempting and very elegant. A truly great wine. Ready now, no hurry.
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11/19/2011 - jkoenen wrote: 90 Points
Game and Rhone Tasting @ Peggy's (Villa Reynart, Opoeteren): Much more complete and complexe that the preceding Chaupin 98. Good matter and substance, animalism and earthyness. Maybe just a little to sweet, but all-in-all pretty impressive. 17,5/20
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10/19/2011 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
What a nice surprise. Until this tasting, this has not been my favorite Chateauneuf du Pape. But that changed with this bottle! It took almost 14 years, but clearly, it was worth the wait, even if it was my last bottle. With a deep color that made me think this wine was only a few years old, intense aromas of licorice, garrigue, black plums, cherries, kirsch, pepper, earth and spice, the offered an explosion of flavor and sensuous, deep textures. The long, concentrated finish delivered layers of lush, pure, ripe, spicy, dark berries.
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9/9/2011 - Zweder wrote: 95 Points
Vertical of 15 vintages Latour followed by a 3* Michelin dinner and 11 magnums. (@ the Librije in Zwolle, Netherlands.): Juicy berries and herbs in the bouquet. On the palate good fruits and herbs and spices like pepper. Juicy acidity and friendly tannin. A beautiful and supple wine wit a good future as well.
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9/9/2011 - WildeMeeuw wrote: 92 Points
Verticaal Latour (De Librije, Zwolle): Janasse 1998 () Kleur: Robijnrood Aroma / bouquet: Ontegenzeggelijk Ch9dP, krachtig aroma, kruidig, wat zoetig donker fruit Smaak / Afdronk: Frisse aanzet, beetje zoetige impressie, verleidelijk, zoethout, kokindjes-drop, geweldige balans, krachtige tannines, enorme lengte Algemeen / potentieel: Mooi glas, blaast me echter niet uit mijn sokken. 50 + Kleur: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 12 + Smaak / Afdronk: 17 + Algemeen / potentieel: 8 = 92/100
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7/31/2011 - Flavito wrote: 89 Points
Still a bit young, slightly alcoholic nose. For some reason Chateauneuf and I don't get along very well - except for Rayas, Bonneau and Beaucastel...
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2/13/2011 - tcfishler wrote:
This started out compressed, with early tannin limiting the flavor development and pleasure. However, with air this took on a more expected form, with a just slightly exotic nose of kirsch, forest floor, and five-spice. There's more raisin on the palate, although the overripeness is reined in. Alltogether this does come across as quite primary and likely to benefit from some additional years of aging.
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1/15/2011 - drwine2001 wrote:
An Eclectic Evening of Ups and Downs (Heirloom Cafe, San Francisco): Dark and primary. Modern nose with fruit and licorice. Very sappy wine with darker black fruit core. Although large scaled, it is kept in check by good acidity. Delicious now but little in the way of secondary development.
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11/26/2010 - mmcdds wrote: 94 Points
An exquisite bottle of wine tonight.Soft, well integrated black fruit with underlying cherry that almost has a candied aspect to it along with garrigue, loamy earth, white pepper and soft dusty tannins on the nearly minute long finish. Abit bretty on opening that blew off about an hour after double decanting. Drinking perfectly right now
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10/29/2010 - canan wrote: 96 Points
CH9 1998 Horisontal (MG work): Nose: Pine and aged meat, stewed cherry fruit and quite overripe.
Palate: Overripe cherry fruit with very pronounced acidity. Still very young and powerful!
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10/23/2010 - UTPK wrote:
Best bottle so far of this gorgeous wine. Perfect cork with no running or sapping. Fully open nose from the beginning. Mature, elegant notes of flowers, ink, a touch of pepper and tons of red fruit, More Burgundy than CnDP this time! Lovely balance in the mouth, very sweet, and flowing easily over the palate. Totally harmonious over the entire palate. Long finish. Just a great wine in a great spot. WIll drink my last bottle out of six within the next 6 months, no reason to wait until the Grenache oxidizes...
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10/1/2010 - dgerst wrote: 92 Points
Dark ruby red. A lot of black fruits on the nose with pronounced alcohol, a little black pepper. There was quite a bit of very ripe blackberry, brambleberry, fig, licorice. The finish was a bit hot with mouth coating tannins. I liked this but my taste in CDP runs more to red than black fruit profile and this was a little over the top for me. I would have liked more acid to balance the ripe fruit. Maybe this will calm down in time. I think it showed the vintage character quite well.
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8/9/2010 - Søeborg wrote:
Fantastic wine. Strong vanilla aromas mixed with black pepper and ripe black currant. High viscosity, almost oily texture but in an elegant way. Long. May keep for another couple of years but the wine is definitely in its drinking window now. Lots of sediment.
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8/6/2010 - Jeff Leve wrote: 92 Points
The wine offers wood, ripe back fruit, jam, pepper and herbal aromatics. This powerful wine is filled with ripe, jammy fruit and spice. But the oak distracted from the wine. In this case in both the nose and in the mouth. People who like this style will rate probably rate it higher.
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3/7/2010 - UTPK wrote:
Lots of sediment here, so decanting is advised. Medium red colour, bright and clear. Outstanding nose of sweet red fruit (cherries and raspberries), a touch of raw meat and reduced stock, almost inky. Very elegant nose with absolutely no oxidisation which often is found in older granache. Light bodied, with persistent mouthfeel. Still a lot of tannins, a bit unbalanced since the fruit is quite soft. I would like to see more fruit or less tannins. Since there is no oxidisation I would bet the wine will continue to develop in bottle. I will wait with the other two at least 2-3 years.
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1/2/2010 - buckeye76 wrote: 96 Points
OPENED UP AFTER 20 MINUTES, BLACKBERRIES, CURRANTS, LICORICE, AND SOME EARTHINESS IN THE NOSE AND FLAVOR. NICE COMPLEXITY AND A LONG FINISH.
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8/27/2009 - rjonwine@gmail.com wrote: 95 Points
Chateauneuf du Pape Tasting Dinner (mainly '98s) (Bistro 24, San Francisco, California): Opaque dark red violet color with pale meniscus; lovely, rich plum, cherry, black fruit, clove, sexy nose; ery tasty, plum, black fruit, charcoal, mineral and cherry palate; medium-plus finish
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7/17/2009 - DougLee wrote: flawed
Cooked. Astringent on the nose and palate. Cork was protruding when opened.
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6/11/2009 - Siggy wrote: 92 Points
Tasting Group Dinner - Chateauneuf at Heidi's (Heidi's & Our House, Minneapolis): Consistent with prior TN. Tasted alongside the '98 Roger Sabon Cuvee Prestige (see TN), the '98 Janasse VV was bigger and riper, yet also fresher on the palate. Sweet dark fruit and complex secondary flavors. A faint touch of heat on the finish. This bottle was fairly well evolved and if I owned any more of these (which I don't), I would be drinking them up relatively soon.
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5/22/2009 - gorm wrote: 94 Points
Uncorked.dk does 1998 Chateauneuf-du-Pape (and a few other gems) (Restaurant Premisse, Copenhagen): Red core with a light slightly brown rim. Obvious sediment. Very sweet and intense nose of smoke, incense, brown sugar, lavender and sweet strawberries. Nice intensity and decent balance in spite of a huge sweetness. Very earthy and one of the tastings most mature wines. No competition for the previous heats.
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11/27/2008 - Siggy wrote: 91 Points
Thanksgiving w/ family and friends. Popped and poured. Big, ripe, and concentrated. Fruit-forward and sweet, but plenty of structure lurking underneath the dark fruit. Really needs a few more years in the cellar.
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9/28/2008 - drwine2001 wrote:
Medium ruby with paler edge. Slow, steady crescendo of aromas with caramel and strawberry fruit showcased early with gradual introduction of herbal notes and camphor. Sorry to wax alliterative, but sexy, sappy, and seamless on the palate with great length and not the slightest sense of overripeness or overextraction. Yes, this is a relatively fruit-driven style, but what fruit it is! This is a relatively low acid wine that works because of the creaminess of the fruit and restrained alcohol. In short, gorgeous and just beginning to develop some secondary notes.
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4/27/2008 - Siggy wrote: 93 Points
Opened two bottles over an extended family dinner of lamb stew. Medium maroon with a touch of garnet. Very ripe. Plum, black licorice, and blackberry fruit. Just a hint of VA in the background. Some funk/horse on the midpalate. Well-developed leathery/smoky/peppery secondary flavors. Finishes with a touch of oak. Delicious; an impressive showing for this very modern-styled CDP.
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11/10/2007 - Paul D wrote: 87 Points
No formal note. Complex nose showing red-toned fruit, leather and smoke. On the palate, full bodied with reasonably seamless tannins, reasonable acidity, well balanced but fruit comes across as a little overdone and pruney. Nevertheless, very good.
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11/17/2006 - rjonwine@gmail.com wrote: 93 Points
Martin Weiner '85-'03 Chateauneuf du Pape dinner, with a couple of Rhones (Chez Weiner, Westwood, California): Lovely ripe strawberry and red fruit nose with a caramel note; good ripe juicy red fruit, with sous bois undertones, ready for drinking; medium-plus finish
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4/28/2006 - conadoc wrote: 95 Points
Steak tartar. Beautiful, young wine. Full of bright fruit and lots of spice and terrific complexity. A real pleasure to drink. Ready now but long life ahead.
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10/9/2005 - Rani wrote: 95 Points
A seriously heavy hitter, this has layers and layers of fruit, plum jam, blackberry, kirsch and hints of bacon, laced with dried herbs and white pepper. Beatifully textured, with very supple tannins and a 1 minute finish. The alcohol (14.5% on the label, probably more in reality) is completely integrated and we had no problem at all finishing the bottle rather quickly. Superb.
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10/8/2005 - The Wine Bum wrote:
Lunch With In-Laws; Janasse VV 98, Clos des Pape 94: Well I couldn't resist any longer, and popped my first bottle, should I have waited longer, probably, do I regret it, no. Though not as fantastic as the first time I tried this (a the Grand Cascade terrible meal, huge row with the Princess, but fantastic wine!) this is top-drawer stuff. Full of rich warming fruit, in such a concentrated seamless package that it almost defies the Bacchic laws, certainly its rude enough too be termed adult entertainment. Probably going though just a small change of life, it wasn’t quite as exuberant as two years ago, but you can feel the hidden depths emerging, I'm going to hold off on the other two.
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9/1/2005 - Mariano wrote: 96 Points
Give a thoroughbred CdP like this one some airtime and it is bound to astound you. After only half an hour in the decanter this adolescent wine was hitting high C's like Carusso. It is the quintessential Chateauneuf, the angular stone that locks the arch together. Somewhere between the heavenly Hommage a Jacques Perrin and a simply outstanding CdP in terms of quality, this medium bodied grand cru equivalent of the Southern Rhone offers an unbelieveably distinctive nose of compote, black pepper and anise, followed by a delicate palate with dark cherries, ripe raspberries, sandalwood, Hermes leather and more, crowned by a long beautiful finish. 96 points indeed, but I counsel patience. Ah yes, no brett here.
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2/12/2005 - Eric wrote: 97 Points
Rhônes and dinner with Robert Parker (Baltimore, MD): Very distinct. Peppery and powerful on the nose, reductive. The palate was awash with white pepper and kirsch and showed amazing power. This wine needs a lot of time to open up.
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11/19/2004 - jeff nowak wrote: 92 Points
noticably focused and well structured. developed well in the glass. red and black fruits. easy to guess southern rhone. tight. look out 10 years from now.
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12/10/2002 - danstrings wrote: 91 Points
Dinner in Munich with Jacqueline and Stefan -- from Magnum! Showed great but slightly subdued at this dinner back in '02. A gentle soft fruitiness, with warm wet stones and classic earthy CdP character.
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