1998 Châteauneuf-du-Pape

"A very good, robust vintage, with excellent acidity and strong tannic structure-a slightly rustic wine for very long aging" is how Pierre Sabon describes this estate 1999 Chateauneuf du Pape. In comparison, he adds, 1998 is rounder and fatter. "We've had a great series of vintages in '98, '99 and 2000," he told me, "better than the '88, '89 and '90 trio." The '99 was about to be moved from stainless steel into foudres at the time of my visit. Sabon said that there may be a special Cuvee Papet from this vintage, but that it was too early to know for sure. This domain, which typically bottles in several installments, sometimes over a period of years, bottled most of its '98 Chateauneuf in May due to the very strong demand for the vintage. (A Peter Vezan Selection; importers include Ideal Wines, Medford, MA; Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY; and North Berkeley Wines, Berkeley, CA)

Jean-Claude Sabon has considered '98 "un tres grand millesime" from the start. "I will make a lot of magnums. It will be a vintage to drink in 20 years-30 in the case of the magnums-with a civet de lievre or civet de sanglier." There will be a Cuvee Papet in '98-one of the appellation's legitimately special bottlings, as this will be the first appearance for the Papet since 1990. Sabon describes this deeply colored, powerfully structured wine as being in le gout Americain though it receives the same elevage as the regular bottling (i.e., mostly in foudres) and struck me as a classic example of Chateauneuf du Pape. (A Peter Vezan Selection; importers include Ideal Wines, Medford, MA; Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY; and North Berkeley Wines, Chicago, IL)