1998 Rhônes – not so glorious, alas

05 mar: I tasted some pretty impressive 2003 Chateauneufs last week together with some 2001s that were drinking well plus a couple of 1998s which I have added below, preceded by a *. I shall report on the 2003s and 2001s during the coming week.

Here are tasting notes on about 100 Rhône reds, north and south, from the much-praised 1998 vintage which suggest that perhaps the vintage isn’t that great after all, even in the south. There are some promising wines, and most of the wines still looked relatively youthful, but in too many wines there is a worrying lack of fruit at this stage...