Our Bordeaux group met at Racines Monday for a look at 1998 Graves and Right Bank wines.
I arrived and was offered the NV Ulysse Collin “Les Perrieres”
Dry/low dosage, crisp, but with a broad texture (oak?). Apples, pear, with a little butterscotchy note. Fun. B+/B
2005 Donnhoff Oberhauser Brucke Spatlese
Moderate richness, rather tropical fruit, but a good spine, and drinking well. B+/A-
We had some excellent Anchovy toasts & pate
First flight
1998 Ch. Pavie Decesse
A little high toned, redder fruits and still some apparent oak. A little blocky, but ok. B
1998 Ch. Pavie Macquin
Fuller, dense but with decant acids, cassis and black plum with mocha/espresso. B+
My starter was veal tartare with tonnato sauce and panisse- tasty!
Second Flight
1998 Ch. Beausejour-Becot
Red fruit, coffee, pretty short for a 1998 St Emilion. B-/C+
1998 Ch. Clos Fourtet
Dark berries, earth, mushroom, a little bretty note (some called diapers,I thought barnyard). My favorite of flight. B+/B
1998 Ch. Troplong Mondot
Fruity yet a little thinner than I’d have expected at first, but it put on a bit of weight and gained a nice cassis profile. B/B+
Third Flight
1998 Ch. Tertre Roteboeuf
Big, powerful, blackcurrant and plum with cocoa and coffee. Good, but a little much for me. B/B+
1998 Ch. Angelus
Delicious and elegant in a mid modern way, dark fruits with herbs and incipient cigarbox, good acids. A-
I had duck breast with tiny potatoes and grilled fennel for main
Fourth Flight
1998 Ch. Haut Brion
Great showing, more open than another recent bottle, Black fruits, tobacco, chocolate, and herbs. Deep and long. Young but delicious. A-/A
1998 Ch. La Mission Haut Brion
Denser and more closed than the Haut Brion, but a lovely wine in the making. A-
Fifth Flight
1998 Ch. Clinet
I had double-decanted this at home without noticing anything off, but this had a plastic/bandaid/bretty note, though others thought corked. NR
1998 Ch. l'Evangile
Lovely, black raspberries and currants, humidor, leather. Young and long. A-
And to end
1985 Peter Lehman Semillon Sauternes (Barossa)
I’ve had few aged Aussie stickies, this isn’t making me search for more. The rot doesn’t smell too noble, this is like a butterfinger gone bad. C/C+
We did our 3/2/1 usual voting,
Haut Brion 22 pts
L’Evangile 19
LMHB 11
Angelus 7
Tertre Rotoboeuf 1
Fun night, Racines did a nice job except for some late coffee hiccups.
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.