A textbook Châteauneuf, the 1998 Bosquet des Papes is drinking at point, showing garrigue-laced aromas of dried cherries, meat, leather, and touches of licorice on the nose. Complex, nuanced, and everything you’d expect from a mature wine, this is still clean and focused on the palate with medium body, a silky, integrated texture, and plenty of class on the finish.

The deep ruby/plum-colored 1998 Châteauneuf du Pape Cuvée Classique is a dense, concentrated, muscular effort with an intense aromatic profile offering dried Provencal herbs, new saddle leather, melted licorice, roasted meats, and copious quantities of black fruits. Full-bodied, powerful, ripe, and dense, it is best cellared for 2-3 years and drunk over the following 15. (RP)

Good dark red. Rather sauvage aromas of roasted plum, leather and animal fur; seems more aromatically evolved than the '99, even allowing for the extra year of age. Rich and thick in the mouth, with a confectionery, sappy sweetness. This is denser than the '99. The rich tannins coat the mouth and the finishing fruit builds slowly and subtly. (ST)