| Score: |
96 JG.
"The 1998 vintage is my favorite recent vintage of this superb estate, as the wine has everything one could ask for in terms of classic breed, perfume and elegance, tied to the great intensity of the 1998 vintage on the Right Bank. The bouquet is deep, pure and still very youthful, as it offers up a complex mélange of red and black raspberries, a touch of sweet, dark berry, tobacco leaf, violets, cigar smoke, fresh herb tones, coffee, a bit of raw cocoa, beautiful, gravelly soil tones and a finely-tuned base of spicy new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and already showing signs of the silkiness to come, with a sappy core of fruit, beautiful focus and balance, ripe, seamlessly-integrated tannins, really outstanding acidity and stunning length and grip on the impeccably balanced finish. This is even a tad better than the beautiful 2000 La Conseillante. While some friends are already telling me how well this wine is drinking today, it is infanticide to even think about opening it now, as there is so much more nuanced complexity to come with a bit more patience." John Gilman, View From the Cellar #34, Aug 2011 |