Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

I have now drunk 7 bottles of the 1998 Pape Clement out of my case and I would say 5-6 of them have been underwhelming. Maybe there was some damage somewhere along the way but it just seems like a thin effort that comes up short, nothing compelling. the nose is nice though.

The 2004 Selbach Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese was okay recently, but way out of the league of that 2001 Prum Spatlese we had last week. It was sharp and angular, again, a nice nose though. Nothing fundamentally wrong with it, just not compelling.

It's a bummer to save wines for so long and not have an experience that validates the wait.

Agree, it sucks when wines don't live up to expectations. But not too many German Rieslings will stand up to the memory of a well-aged 2001 JJ Prum.

Have you drunk any Alsatian Rieslings, Jim? The 2006 Trimbach Frederic Emile we drank Friday was quite nice with chicken.

Last night we drank 2003 Raphet MSD Les Millandes and 2004 Chevillon NSG Les Roncieres. Both were excellent. T and I slightly preferred the darker bramblely NSG while Lucie and Judd gave the edge to the floral pure pinot of the MSD. These Burgs were the first of the 102 bottles from K&L that I bought for drinking in Berkeley this fall.

You need experience like that, to appreciate the real great bottles when they show themselve. And relatively speaking, you can open a cheap 1998 Sociando and be whooffed!

But it is true it is sad to open a 1998 Pape Clément and be underwhelmed. All the bottles from the same case?

Nic

Yes.

I have enjoyed the two 98 Papes so maybe your case was troubled. We had a Selbach-Oster last night, I think the same bottle. It is not here to confirm but it was brilliant. Golden and vibrant acidity. Was yours under screwcap?

No.

When you look on CT the reviews are pretty mixed...I am very seriously considering selling my case. For the money you can probably do a lot better...the note from Keith Levenberg is pretty damning even though that was in 2008. Jeff Leve also seemed pretty underwhelmed.

JimHow wrote:No.

Mine was under cap and fresh. Not quite Prum level but very good.

Maybe a year ago we had our last of the 01 S-O Spatlese. It was lovely, so crisp and <gasp> racy.

Don't know much about Selbach-Oster, but last tasted Pape-Clement 1998 in 2014, and I liked it, although it was not really a killer wine for the 1998 vintage, which was top notch in Pessac-Léognan. I have certainly had more pleasure out of some more recent vintages such as 2005. The bottled I had came direct from the Pape-Clement cellars, so there was no question regarding provenance.

I'm pretty much wondering whether my case was damaged somewhat.
The bottle I had with Michael P was pretty good, and another bottle was very good.
The rest have been not corked but they just seem flat.

Folks,
I have some bottles of 1998 Pape Clement in the wine fridge.
Looks like I will have to sacrifice one and report back.....

Please do Mark, I have a case still in bond and am thinking of swapping it for something better like Duhart Milon 2000 or Pichon Baron 2002