WTN: 1998 Right Bankers at Mortons (NYC)

Paul Jaouen and Matt Richman arranged a nice dinner featuring 1998 Right Bank Bordeaux last night. 7 amiable oenophiles gathered at Mortons in midtown for steaks and (mostly) Merlot. We ended up with mostly "modern" styled wines by the luck of the draw. Morton's is a nice place for an offline. Good service but in the background, steaks a good counter for young Bordeaux, sides good.

Wines were blind.

Flight 1
Wine # 1- Sweet fruit, kirsch, some rather hard tannins, gets better. B
(1998 Angelus)

Wine # 2- Very closed at first, tannic, but riper/smoother tannins than #1. Some mint and cocoa as it opens. B/B+ (1998 Beausjour Duffau)

Wine # 3 - easily my favorite of flight. Just a hint of barnyard, that blows off. Verty sweet fruit (someone says too ripe),. but this has a really lovely texture and a long finish. Oak needs to integrate a bit. B+ (1998 La Fleur Petrus)

Flight 2
Wine # 4 - big sweet ripe fruit, crushed berries, a little coffee note. Seems quite modern, some speculation it might be Pavie B+/A- (1998 Bourgneuf !!!!)

Wine # 5- Good, smooth, lush texture, red berry fruit, Pomerol. B+/A- (1998 L'Evangile)

Wine # 6- Round, short, surprisingly empty. This is flabby on palate, yet there is an unpleasant acidic sharpness on the (short) finish. My least favorite of night. C+ (1998 Clos Fourtet)

Flight 3
Wine # 7 -Big, open. Ripe dark plum fruit, cedar, balanced acidity, nice texture. I thought this might be the La Fleur Petrus. A- (1998 L'Eglise Clinet)

Wine # 8- Modern, mocha, medium body, red fruit. I guessed Roc de Cambes. B (1998 Troplong Mondot)

Wine # 9- I actually can't read what I wrote here (scribbling in space between my plate and stems), other than "a little hot". B (1998 Pavie Decesse)

Flight 4

Wine # 10- modern, lush, nice dark fruit, coffee. B+ (1998 Pavie)

Wine # 11 - good fruit, herby notes that I found pleasant, B/B+(1998 Pavie Macquin)

Flight 5

Wine # 12- lush, good length, some oak, nice. B+/A- (1998 Quinault L'Enclos)

Wine #13- this seemed a bit disjointed, sharp tannins, lighter body. B-/C+
(1998 Roc de Cambes)

OK, some big surprises to me when unveiled. Certainly the Bourgneuf was the overachiever of the night. I'm surprised at how well Quinault did, too I didn't like the previous time I tried. I think the Roc de Cambes was off, as I have tried before and liked. I'm not shocked that Pavie didn't stick out like a sore thumb, we did a 1998 horizontal about 3 years ago and I thought it modern but not over the top then. There probably is some variability in how wines were treated as far as decanting (most got some air time), and ones in middle got the boost of going with steak. But a fun and informative evening with a good crowd. Thanks to Paul and Matt for organizing.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. 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.

Dale,

Were these 10 year-old wines by and large ready to drink or approaching their plateau?

Very interesting to see how well Bourgneuf did. It's been a long time since I had this wine and you make me want to rediscover it!

I'm surprised at Clos Fourtet's and Troplong Mondot's poor showing and, like you, Quinault L'Enclos' good one.

Best regards,
Alex R.

Alex,
I thought all of these wines showed as really young, though many had seen extended decanting, The Bourgneuf probably got a bit of a boost in being the only one I'd say was on its plateau (well , only one except Clos Fourtet- it this was a typical bottle it might be on its mature plateau, but that's not a nice place!).

I have a lone bottle of '99 Quinault that I keep staring at wondering what I would ever do with it. I hope it shows as well as the '98, now I have at least some hope.

I don't know where Bourgneuf is situated, but it seems to be one of those little estates that really seems to need a warm vintage to do well. The 1990 was an overachiever, too.

Appreciate the note on the La Fleur Petrus as I only have two and rather not "experiment" with them. The barnyard sounds fine to me but I would have never thought that it would be showing overt wood. Sure hope it finds somewhere to go with a few more years.

I would have never thought that it would be showing overt wood.

Me either. I didn't get as much oak once label was shown.

Thanks for the notes, Dale. These are very useful data points.

I’m happy to see that the L’Eglise Clinet drank well. Has it reached its plateau?

The Angelus seemed to have not kept up in performance with most of the others. Do you know if it was decanted?

Ramon

I think the L'Eglise Clinet could probably use some time.
Unsure re the Angelus. I loved it at another horizontal 3 years ago (at Inside- were you there?).
It's certainly always possilble to have off bottles.

Thanks. I have a bottle of the L’Eglise Clinet left and have no room for experimentation. I'll keep it for a while.

Yes, I was at the Inside ‘98 Horizontal 3 years ago and loved my first taste of the ‘98 Angelus.
I believe that you were also at the East River Café for a St. Emillion vertical just around this time last year when we revisited the same wine. Imho, it drank quite beautifully out of the decanter.

Yes, I remembered I had tried the '98 Angelus again, but couldn't remember where. East River Cafe, with '00 Figeac, '88 Troplong, ;70 Soutard, etc.