Stephen Tanzer
Deep bright red-ruby color. Higher-pitched, more perfumed aromas of dark berries, violet, leather and black pepper. Very dense and firm in the mouth; a wine of impressive structure. Not an especially sweet style of Chateauneuf thanks to its peppery intensity. Will obviously develop very slowly in bottle yet already offers compelling inner-mouth perfume. Very classy and very long on the aftertaste, with notes of gibier and leather.
Robert Parker
The two bottles opened for this report were both totally shut down and impossible to judge, which struck me as unusual. One of my all-time favorite Chateauneuf du Papes is their 1990 Cuvee du Papet, and I thought the 1998 had a chance to behave in that manner, never closing down and always being drinkable. This wine exhibits a dark plum/ruby color, with hints of garrigue, new saddle leather, tapenade and kirsch, but it shuts down tight in the mouth. It is medium to full-bodied, has weight, purity, and richness, but it is just not singing. No matter how much aeration I gave it, nothing seemed to come forward, making judgment virtually impossible. Whatever the reason for it, I thought this was just bizarre. The mysteries of wine - may they never end!