As Robin's posting on the MoCOOL home page indicates, many contributed a bottle or three of 1998 Chateauneuf-du-Pape to a horozontal tasting immediately preceeding the unorganized mayhem that is the picnic, and it was a real eye opener to most of us who participated.
Parker once called this vintage the "gold standard" for the Southern Rhone, and still lists it as 98E on his vintage chart - the 98 being the highest rating of a vintage he had given until this year, and the E meaning early drinking and accessible. We just wanted to see if, across the board, these babies were ready to drink yet. Most, I think, guessed they would be a bit young, perhaps at the early stage of a long drinking window.
And at the end, I think all of us agreed with Robin's characterization. Of the dozen or so we tried, more were past peak than short of it. The Vieux Telegraphe, for example, had been a little tight but very nice with 4 hours of air the night before, and for some was better than the Pegau Reservee opened at the same time. But by the following afternoon, it seemed old. The Pegau Lawrence, Pegau Reservee, and Beaucastel were my top three of the group, but I also like the very traditional Bois de Boursan, the wierdly shaped bottle of de la Gardine (which was the youngest probably because Mike Brenton keeps his cellar at about 48 degrees), the tobaccco flavored LaNerthe, and the well balanced Pallieres Gigondas. Actually, I didn't dislike any, and in fact am perhaps a bit more appreciative of wines a bit over the hill than others who are more critical, or have better taste, might be.
But the point is, if you have '98 Southern Rhones that have been stored under pretty normal conditions, I suspect the group of 12 or 14 who participated in this would say - give em an hour of air and drink em up. There are no odds in waiting.
Thanks to all who contributed to this very worthwhile event.
