There's a small store 12 miles above Rehoboth Beach, Delaware named "Coastal Wine and Spirits" that I've been visiting for many years traveling to and from Ocean City Maryland. I've come to know the owner very well and every visit is a nice, short time spent with a woman that I visit just 10 times, or so, a year. We stopped yesterday on the way to OC and chatted with Kathy as usual while I was wondering around her simple but extremely well stocked store that's easily 90% wine and the rest beer and spirits. She even has a small, special selection room for high end, hard to find wines. While cruising the main floor I went to the French section and found 6 pristine looking bottles of the 1998 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Gigondas Pierre Aiguille. Her store is always very cold year round and yesterday afternoon, when we stopped, it seemed colder than the rainy, mid 40's weather that we'd been driving through. Kathy and her associate were perched behind the counter both wearing winter coats. She's told me long before that they keep the temp in the shop at mid 50's year round so as not to damage the wine.
Last night we popped this '98 and were treated to a very nice experience. Violets and floral notes flew from the bottle. Muddled purple with slight bricking in color. The wine showed some young grenache fruit with mature blackberry, dark berry and raspberry flavors tinged with herbs de Provence, mineral, walnut and black pepper flavors. Good acidity and a nice length to the finish, it still showed some drying tannins on the back end. Nice wine.
Drew