Romanée Conti, Domaine de la Romanée Conti 1998

Deep ruby. A deeply pitched and distinctly different nose from what one usually finds in 10 year old RC as there are wonderfully dense and layered aromas of orange compote, red and black cherry along with the usual spice and floral notes, which introduces refined, pure and concentrated medium full flavors that possess the usual spectacular detail on the gorgeously persistent finish. This is beginning to lose its baby fat and the underlying sense of structure is becoming more prominent. The 1998 is built to age and should be capable of gracefully maturing over the next 40 years, perhaps longer.