1998 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Felix

The brilliant Cuvee des Felix (the debut vintage) is aging beautifully. Dark plum/garnet, with an extraordinary nose of graphite, lavender, blueberry, black raspberry, garrigue, and licorice, the wine offers up an abundant concoction of Provencal scents followed by a full-bodied, opulent mouthfeel that has hit its plateau of maturity. There’s not a hard edge to be found. Full-bodied, even sumptuous, with terrific complexity, it should easily drink well for another 8-10 years. Wine Advocate.June, 2010

Deep ruby-red. Huge, roasted nose features maraschino cherry and an exotic hint of apricot; an obvious low-SO2 sample that could be fresher. Powerful, viscous and full-bodied; impressively concentrated but less vibrant today than the above. Just short of heavy, in the way of so many low-acid special cuvees from superripe fruit. Finishes impressively long and powerful, with tannins buried in fruit. My score may prove to be conservative.