Wines with Age

wines

The 2000 Château l’Evangile is blockbuster stuff and just about as good as it gets. This Merlot-dominated beauty shows some maturity but is still powerful, concentrated, and layered, with killer notes of currants, chocolate, smoked earth and spice. It has sweet tannin, an opulent, sexy texture, no hard edges and a great finish, all making it an incredible drink today. Nevertheless, it will keep for another 15+ years in cool cellars.Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JDThis is an absolutely spectacular L’Evangile. It remains to be seen whether 2009 will eclipse this great effort. Largely a Merlot-dominated blend with some Cabernet Franc in it, the greatness of this terroir is exhibited in the complexity of the nose, which offers up hints of subtle chocolate, blueberry, blackberry, truffle, barbecue smoke, and graphite. Dense, rich, and full-bodied, with an opulence and succulence that are prodigious, the tannins are present but extremely sweet, and the wine multi-dimensional and just emerging as a compellingly complex, head-turning beauty. Drink it now and over the next 20-25 years. Kudos to L’Evangile.Robert Parker | 98 RPLots of iodine, oyster, blueberry and blackberry aromas with hints of black olives. Some basil, too. Full body, powerful and dense with velvety tannins and fantastic length and intensity. A rich wine yet shows focus and form. Beautiful now and still showing impressive youth. There is a warmth to it. Drink or hold for years to come.James Suckling | 96 JSSaturated ruby. Superripe aromas of black and red fruits and dark chocolate; almost but not quite pruney. Then pliant, sweet and lush, with explosive black raspberry fruit and lots of early personality. This is downright hedonistic and deceptively soft. Finishes very long and ripe, with extremely fine tannins.Vinous Media | 92-95 VM91% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc. Needs aerating and remains a touch closed, even after 17 years. Clearly displays the rich black fruit and sexy Pomerol swagger that you expect of such a big vintage, tempered by the delicacy of the winemaking at L’Evangile. This is a great wine, still young, with a long life ahead of it. Drinking Window 2018 - 2035Decanter | 94 DECA savory edge leads off, followed by well-mulled raspberry, blackberry and strawberry flavors, with dried anise and black licorice notes taking over on the finish. Touches of raisin and plum skin notes at the very end have this red flirting with a Port-like surmaturité, but this will have fans for sure. You can push it if you want, but I’d drink this sooner rather than later.—Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2023. 2,800 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

This is really classic in style with incredible depth and power. Muscular and amazing, it is full-bodied yet tight and agile. So complex. Shows iodine, oyster, stone and mint aromas and flavors. It’s rich and flavorful and at the same time fresh and racy. A modern classic. Drink or hold. Decant this one or two hours in advance.James Suckling | 99 JSA candidate for the wine of the vintage from this somewhat forgotten year, consumers should be seeking out wines from the Right Bank and Graves as 1998 was a great vintage in those appellations. La Mission’s 1998 exhibits a healthy, opaque blue/purple color with no lightening at the edge. Thirty minutes of aeration brings forth a sensational bouquet of chocolate, cedar, truffles, graphite, blackberries, cassis and incense. La Mission’s so-called scorched earth/charcoal/hot rocks characteristic has not yet appeared. Full-bodied with superb purity, a multilayered texture, sweet tannin, good acidity and a fabulously long finish, this great, young La Mission-Haut-Brion’s finest days are yet to come. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2040.Robert Parker | 98 RPJust a spectacular wine in every sense, the 1998 is now fully mature yet still youthful, with a vivid ruby hue and little in the way of any bricking. Offering a kaleidoscope-like nose of red and black currants, scorched earth, truffles, tobacco, lead pencil, and ample crushed stone-like minerality, this beauty hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a layered, multi-dimensional texture, sweet tannins, and a thrilling finish. It needs about an hour in a decanter, but this is magical juice, and the bottle was emptied in record time. Count yourself lucky if you have bottles and enjoy any time over the coming 20-30 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JDThe 1998 La Mission Haut-Brion is the standout of the Nineties. It shows more purity and exuberance than the 1996, featuring sumptuous scents of black cherries, black olive, freshly rolled tobacco and hints of gravel, all wonderfully defined and quite precocious. The palate is likewise sweet and ripe, offering pliant tannins and layers of blackberry, blood orange, blueberry and tobacco. It tightens up toward the finish, as if to say, I’m in for the long haul. Give it a couple of hours’ decanting, or cellar it for longer if you wish. Tasted at dinner at Chez Bruce.Vinous Media | 96 VMVery dark ruby color still. The nose is deep and dense, with intense aromas of licorice, blackberry, warm stones and a hint of sweet tobacco. Full-bodied, with flavors of berries, iodine and chocolate. The tannin structure builds on the palate. Still needs to come together. A baby.--’88/’98 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2008). Best after 2012.Wine Spectator | 96 WSNo written review provided. | 95 W&S

The 1989 has taken forever to shed its formidable tannins, but what a great vintage of Lynch Bages! I would rank it at the top of the pyramid although the 1990, 2000, and down the road, some of the more recent vintages such as 2005, 2009 and 2010 should come close to matching the 1989’s extraordinary concentration and undeniable aging potential. Its dense purple color reveals a slight lightening at the edge and the stunning bouquet offers classic notes of creme de cassis, subtle smoke, oak and graphite. Powerful and rich with some tannins still to shed at age 22, it is still a young adolescent in terms of its evolution and will benefit from another 4-5 years of cellaring. It should prove to be a 50 year wine.Robert Parker | 99+ RPThe 1989 Lynch-Bages is one of Jean-Michel Cazes’s triumphs. At three decades, it shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. Blackberry and cedar soar from the glass just as they did from the bottle last year, and touches of graphite develop, all beautifully defined and focused. As I’ve proclaimed before, there is such energy and vigor here! The palate is medium-bodied with a fresh, minty opening. The cedar element is a little stronger than the previous bottles that I have tasted, yet there is still that symmetry and focus. This particular bottle shows a touch more development on the finish compared to others encountered over the years, with great structure and grip, notes of tobacco and just a hint of morels surfacing on the aftertaste. A remarkable Lynch-Bages that is at its peak. As an aside, Jean-Michel Cazes mentioned that there are few bottles of the 1989 remaining in their reserves. A break-in during the 1990s saw robbers of good taste steal much of their stock. Tasted from an ex-cellar bottle at the château.Vinous Media | 96 VMDelivers so much blackberry, leather and dried fruits on the nose. Full-bodied, with ultrapolished tannins and a silky mouthfeel. The palate turns to leaves, cedar and dried berries on the finish, which goes on and on. This is still reserved for the vintage, suggesting a long life ahead. Just coming around now, but will improve many years ahead. I have always loved this Lynch.--’89/’99 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2009). Drink now. 35,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSI have always been a big fan of this rich wine, with its currant and tropical fruit character on the nose and palate, and just a hint of toasted oak. It’s full-bodied, with wild fruit and tobacco character, and a roasted coffee bean aftertaste. This is a fabulous wine. Served from imperial bottle.James Suckling | 94 JS(Château Lynch Bages) The 1989 Château Lynch Bages is starting to drink beautifully at the present time and has just about reached its apogee of peak maturity, but still has decades and decades of life ahead of it. The classic bouquet jumps from the glass in a sappy blend of sweet cassis, black cherries, new leather, cigar ash, dark soil and a touch of toasty, ever so slightly resinous new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and complex, with a fine core of fruit, very good soil signature, still a bit of backend tannin to carry it on into the future and impressive focus and grip on the long and complex finish. I would opt for giving this wine just a few more years to soften up just a touch more on the backend before starting to drink it with abandon. It is a top flight vintage of Lynch. (Drink between 2020-2050).John Gilman | 92 JG

A typical Palmer showing finesse alongside strength. I love the blackberry, plum, chocolate and cedar character. It’s very long and beautiful. The velvety, textured tannins are impressive.James Suckling | 97 JSThis has turned out to be a prodigious Palmer. The saturated purple color offers up sexy, full-bodied, almost masculine notes of roasted meats, blackberries, and creme de cassis intermixed with notions of toast, smoke, and camphor. Only 50% of the production made it into the 2000, a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon and 47% Merlot. The wine is opulent, rich, and full-bodied, with tannin that has become sweeter with age. Its best showing yet, most importantly, has been from bottle. This is a great Palmer that should rival the best of recent vintages, which have all been stunning, as this estate continues to go from strength to strength. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2030.Robert Parker | 96 RPStill tight, with a core of black currant, blackberry and plum fruit flavors that is quite youthful, while hints of dried anise, tobacco and singed alder are starting to peek through on the finish. There’s a really vibrant iron note cutting through the finish too. Hold off for now.--Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Best from 2018 through 2028.Wine Spectator | 96 WSNow at 20 years old, and absolutely singing, after a sometimes frustratingly slow start to its life. The tannins are ripe but rich and still broad-shouldered, and it will probably still show at its best with a good plate of food to draw out the mouthwatering acidities. Dense, powerful, complex, with a menthol-laced finish, no signs of going anywhere yet. No Petit Verdot in the blend in this vintage, because the then director Bouteiller didn’t feel it was adding to the overall balance achieved by the already rich and concentrated Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Harvest September 21 to October 7. Drinking Window 2020 - 2043.Decanter | 96 DECThe 2000 Palmer is a very different “beast” than the 2001, and I use that word intentionally. This is much more feral on the nose, and quite ferrous, presenting leather and dried herbs, smudged red berry fruit, and a hint of fig that emerges with time. The brettanomyces sticks out a bit here. The palate is medium-bodied with dry tannins and good density, very earthy in style and certainly more evolved than the succeeding vintage, yet you cannot help falling for its charms. It evolves wonderfully in the glass, actually closing in a little toward the finish, and suggesting that contrary to what the nose suggests, it will repay further cellaring. Excellent.Vinous Media | 94 VMAt this stage, this is very closed, very tight, giving little. But it is possible to discern that this is going to be a beautiful wine. There are flavors of sweet raisins and the fruit has a new world richness, but the structure of dry tannins is always present. It looks as though it has a good, long life.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WE

It’s striking that is as fresh as it is given the ten years in the cellars. It has a fine citrus nose with plenty of lemons, grapefruit and yellow chalky notes, not to mention some lighter floral elements. The palate is super dry (dosage at 3-4g), and there’s a silky, sherbet-like texture that makes this smooth fine and long. The citrus flavors give way to the surging acidity and the finish twists very slowly through to lightly toasted cashew nuts mingled with complex fruit and citrus flavors. Disgorged October 22, 2013.James Suckling | 99 JSWhen we tasted the 2002 Grande Année in 2012, I scored it 95 points, impressed by its pale chalk power, its muscularity and the freshness it expressed as a ten-year-old wine. It had the scent of a sunny meadow. With two years of additional time on the lees and a lower dosage, the current R.D. version of that wine is more extreme. If you break it apart you might consider how the barrel-aged base wines from 23 crus intensify the structure, or how the acidity of the vintage has sustained the bright, buzzing freshness of the peach and apple flavors. The fruit seems to be wedded to rock, so strong is the chalk streak of limestone. And yet the resonance of the wine, subsuming any and all of those factors, brings it together in a sumptuous texture, making it a pleasure to drink even now. It’s more sensible, however, to wait. In ten years, this should begin to fulfill its promise, at the start of its prime.Wine & Spirits | 97 W&SA wine that really needs time in the glass to show at its best, Bollinger’s 2002 RD comes from a total 23 different crus (71% being Grand Cru) and is a 60/40 split of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Disgorged in 2013 after spending 11 years in bottle, it offers a dry, savory style that quickly morphs toward more stone fruits, toasted nuts, dried earth and exotic spices. Deep, pure, and incredibly chiseled on the palate, with a gorgeous texture and great finish, this is a Champagne I’d decant if drinking anytime soon. The dosage is in the 3-4 grams range, and while it’s certainly on the dry/savory end of the spectrum, it offers incredible complexity and depth.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDA fine example of power married to elegance, this is impeccably balanced, with a mouthwatering palate of crème de cassis, toasted brioche, fleur de sel and crystallized honey flavors. The rich, smoky underpinning is carried on a finely detailed bead. Disgorged March 2014. Drink now through 2030. 200 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 96 WS(Bollinger “R. D.” Brut Millésime (Aÿ)) The 2002 Bollinger R.D. is comprised of a blend of sixty percent pinot noir and forty percent chardonnay, with the wine being finished with a low dosage of 3.5 grams per liter. This is one of the most beautiful young vintages of R.D. that I have ever had the pleasure to taste, as the wine soars from glass in a blaze of apple, peach, patissière, a touch of hazelnut, beautifully complex soil tones, gentle smokiness and a topnote of dried flowers. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and generous with pure fruit at the core, with utterly refined mousse, bright acids, lovely focus and grip and a very long, focused and complex finish. At age fourteen, this wine is nicely open for business and utterly charming, but it has the balance to also age long and very gracefully. A simply beautiful vintage of R.D. (Drink between 2016-2040)John Gilman | 95 JGThe most remarkable thing about the 2002 Extra Brut R.D. is how tense and structured it is. Despite having been disgorged over two years ago, the 2002 is very much tightly wound. After several hours, the power and resonance of the vintage start to come through, along with the natural richness of Pinot from Aÿ. Whereas most 2002 Champagnes are quite ripe in profile, the 2002 R.D. has plenty of depth, but it is depth through concentration as opposed to elevated ripeness. The low dosage style further adds to that sensation. Hints of chamomile, sage, dried flower and red fruits emerge over time, but only with reluctance. I would prefer to cellar the 2002 for at least a few years. If that is not possible, readers should open the wine at least a few hours in advance. Even so, the 2002’s best drinking lies somewhere in the future. My sense is that the 2002 will be at its best between the ages of 20 and 30. Disgorged: September 11, 2015.Antonio Galloni | 95 AG(Bollinger Extra Brut - R.D. Red) Fully mature aromas are comprised by really lovely brioche, citrus and baked apple nuances. There is a notably refined bead to the mousse that is dense yet a little aeration allows the beautifully delineated yet subtly shaded full-bodied flavors to shine before culminating in a beautifully long, complex, intensely yeasty and classy finish. As the R.D. almost always is, this is full-flavored yet it arguably drinks like a blanc de blancs because of its purity and subtlety. In a word this is gorgeous. Note that I have experienced some bottle variation with some bottles seeming to be distinctly more youthful than others. (Drink starting 2020).Burghound | 94 BHThis late-release version of the vintage wine from Bollinger was 13 years on the lees before being disgorged in May of 2017 with an extra-brut dosage of just 3g/L. The initial blend was 60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay, fermented in cask, and aged under cork. The wine is a sublime expression of the late-disgorged style, both very fresh and showing characteristic notes of coffee and toast that long lees ageing brings. The texture is very lively and crisp, and the energy of the 2002 vintage carries this to an immense finish. This wine should age for decades. (Drink between 2021-2051)Decanter | 94 DECBig names do not help if you are not familiar with a certain house style, and so I can understand everyone who dislikes Bollinger’s 2002 RD Extra Brut, which at first sight reveals a matured if not an old wine displaying toffee, floral (hyacinths, narcissus, sage), vegetal and spicy aromas (oak, cannabis, frankincense, black bread) -- but almost no fruit (at least no fresh fruit). This wine was disgorged in March 2014, but just needs a lot of time in the glass to develop its complexity. On the palate this is a very pure, fresh, lively, firmly structured and almost ascetic wine with complexity, but almost no sensuality. Very distinctive style.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RP

Aromas of dark chocolate and blackberry, with hints of black olives. Full-bodied, with chewy, polished tannins and loads of ripe fruit, tapenade and flowers. A complex and complete wine. Still needs time. One of the best ever from here.—’88/’98 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2008). Best after 2010. 1,085 cases made.Wine Spectator | 97 WSI drank a bottle of 1998 L’Eglise Clinet Pomerol yesterday in Beverly Hills at the Italian restaurant Via Alloro with Hong Kong wine merchant Paulo Pong, who also blogs for my web site. The L’Eglise was still very young and in reserve. We decanted it before drinking, but it still was a little tight. I think it needs more bottle time. Nonetheless, it was soft and silky yet firm and gorgeous. It was full-bodied with a gorgeous core of raspberry and spices on the palate, with chocolate and mahogany notes.James Suckling | 97 JSThe Château l’Eglise-Clinet 1998 has developed an absolutely stunning bouquet: precocious, glycerin-rich red cherries, cassis, violets and minerals all beautifully defined and so intense. The palate is full-bodied with ripe tannin, layers of sweet blackberry and wild strawberry fruit intermingling with white pepper, cumin, black truffle and tar. There is a crescendo towards the finish that just fans out across the mouth. After 17 years (which makes me feel old, as I remember tasting it from barrel), it is a Pomerol that will take on all comers in the appellation with the exception of the 1998 Petrus. It will give 40-50 years worth of drinking pleasure. Tasted March 2015.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 96 RP-NMThe 1998 l’Eglise-Clinet was picked 21 to 26 September. This formed my introduction to the property and I still remember the impact of tasting this vintage from barrel. Durantou opened three bottles as the first two showed a little TCA. It has a wonderful bouquet that is fragrant and pure: redcurrant, cranberry, a touch of kirsch, hints of marmalade and orange rind. It captures Pomerol at its most opulent without excess. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, dense black fruit laced with truffle with a very complex, mineral-driven, truffle and morels infused finish that lingers long in the mouth. Tasted at the l’Eglise-Clinet vertical at the château in April 2018.Vinous Media | 95 VMAs I shared with the attendees to the tasting, I had been a big fan of Chateau l’Église-Clinet back in the 1980s and had bought and happily drunk cases of both the 1985 and 1986 here. However, by the time I started covering En Primeur campaigns with the 2009 vintage, the style at the property had gotten more overtly modern and the quality had slipped in my opinion. So, I was very curious to taste the 1998, which had never crossed my path previously, to see if the more modern house style was already well ensconced here by 1998. Sadly, this seems to have been the case. The wine is still nicely flamboyant on the nose, jumping from the glass in a mix of plums, black raspberries, a bit of tariness, chocolate, violets, a modicum of soil tones and spicy new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and fairly extracted in style, with a fair bit of well-integrated tannins, good focus and grip and a long, fairly four-square finish. This is solid, respectable example of 1998, but it is not materially better than wines such as Pavie-Macquin or La Dominique, despite being far pricier and having loftier ambitions. (Drink between 2030-2070)John Gilman | 90 JG

This magnificent Lynch Bages has been drinking well since the day it was released and it continues to go from strength to strength. The biggest, richest, fullest-bodied Lynch Bages until the 2000, the fully mature 1990 exhibits an unbelievably explosive nose of black currants, cedarwood, herbs and spice. The majestic, classically Bordeaux aromatics are followed by a full-bodied, voluptuously textured, rich, intense wine with superb purity as well as thrilling levels of fruit, glycerin and sweetness. This beauty should continue to provide immense pleasure over the next 15+ years.Robert Parker | 99 RPThe 1990 Lynch-Bages remains the towering Pauillac it has always been, even if Jean-Michel Cazes personally prefers the 1989. It has a riveting, graphite-infused bouquet that is brilliantly defined, very focused and sharp as a razor-blade. Poured directly against the 1990 Lafite-Rothschild, this Fifth Growth beats it hands down. The palate is very well structured; this is an aristocratic Lynch-Bages with impressive grip after 28 years. There is a symmetry underpinning this wine, a sense of energy undiminished by the passing years, that makes this 1990 Lynch-Bages so compelling. Just awesome. Tasted during the Christmas Dinner at Noble Rot restaurant.Vinous Media | 96 VMAromas of tar, currant and berries follow through to a full-bodied palate, with silky tannins and a long, long finish. Still not completely ready, but so good anyway.--Lynch-Bages non-blind vertical. Best after 2008. 35,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WS(Château Lynch Bages) The 1990 Lynch Bages is a very good example of the vintage that shows off the differences between ’90 and ’89 quite well in its lack of mid-palate depth vis à vis the 1989 version. The nose on the 1990 Lynch is excellent, wafting from the glass in a blend of cassis, black cherries, a touch of saddle leather, gravelly soil tones, fresh herbs and plenty of toasty new wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and very long, with good, but not great depth at the core, moderate tannins and lovely length and grip on the complex finish. While approachable today, the 1990 Lynch could still do with a few years in the cellar to allow it to more fully blossom. It is a very good wine, but it does not possess the same sappy depth of the superior 1989 Lynch Bages. (Drink between 2016-2045)John Gilman | 90+ JG

There is no other wine in the world like it, and there is no other luxury wine that can possibly justify its price as much as Yquem. The remarkable amount of painstaking labor necessary to produce the nectar known as Yquem is almost impossible to comprehend. This is a fascinating effort. With greater evidence of botrytis than the colossal 1983, but less power and alcohol, the 1986 Yquem tastes reminiscent of the 1975, only more precocious, as well as more concentrated. Several highly respected Bordeaux negociants who are Yquem enthusiasts claim the 1986 Yquem is the greatest wine produced at the property since the legendary 1937. Its enthralling bouquet of pineapples, sauteed hazelnuts, vanillin, and ripe apricots is breathtaking. Compellingly concentrated, the breadth as well as depth of flavor seemingly know no limits. This full-bodied, powerful, yet impeccably balanced Yquem should provide memorable drinking for 40-55 more years. Like the 1983, this is another winemaking tour de force. Anticipated maturity: 2000-2040. Last tasted, 4/91.Robert Parker | 98 RP