Péby Faugères 1998

A terrific effort, and one of the stars of the vintage, the 1998 boasts an opaque, thick looking, black/purple color in addition to gorgous aromatics consisting of blackberries, blueberries, smoke, minerals, and vanilla. Extremely full-bodied and rich, yet harmonious, with a seamless personality as well as beautifully integrated acidity and tannin, this blockbuster effort is one of the great surprises of the vintage. Anticipated maturity: now-2018+. Last tasted, 3/02.

Medium garnet-brick in color, the 1998 Peby Faugeres opens with a decadently fruity nose of blueberry compote, plum preserves and dark chocolate with wafts of sweaty leather, camphor, chocolate box and Ceylon tea plus a hint of truffles. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is chock-full of black and blue fruit preserves with the acid sitting nice and subtle in the background and plenty plush tannic structure in the forefront. It finishes on a lingering earthy / barnyard note. This wine still has a lot of fruit and life ahead of it, but you'll need to be able to appreciate that sweaty leather component to truly love this wine.