M. Chapoutier, Hermitage, Le Meal Rouge

Tarnished nose; earth; pepper and berry; elegant finish.

1998 vintage

Poured into a decanter 2.5 hours before serving, then subsequently ran it through an aerator. At 27 years of age, while enjoyable to drink, the wine is still not fully developed. At the moment, the wine has notes of tapenade, smoke, and black fruits. The acids remain significant, and the fruit is intact. Like most great Hermitage, this wine is a long-distance runner. Next bottle in 3 to 5 years.

1998 vintage

Opened 4 hours before consumption, 2 hours in bottle and 2 in decanter. When we finally poured, intense black fruit (cassis?), pepper, meaty and sort of wild herb notes. Confirmed most notes on the palate. Medium plus tannins (still), intense acidity, and the fruit was dead on fresh. First time drinking an hermitage from Meal. They say that the fruit character in these is particularly accentuated relative to other lieus-dit. Absolutely delish wine.

1998 vintage

Luftet 2 timer har vinen burgundersk munnfølelse og stor kompleksitet: Her er det plomme, kirsebær, blodappelsin, rosmarin, provence-urter, teblader og mandel. Lang og frisk utgang. Drukket til elgbiff ble dette hyggelig.

1998 vintage

PnP. Probably a mistake, should have decanted a few hours. I've had many a Chapoutier in my day and have always decanted, took a shot to hold off and do so at the restaurant based on other reviews. Bad idea. Next time listen to my experience and instinct. I know what these wines need and that’s air! Anyway, after a rather lackluster 04 Dauvissat Les Clos, heat damage, Fuck it, opened this as back up. Also ordered a '17 Faiveley …

1998 vintage

Suttle; earth; cedar; elegant; harmony; blackberry with cassis; long resolved finish.

1998 vintage

Earthy and mature; mocha with light licorice and some berry; earthy balanced finish.

1998 vintage

PnP. Burgundy glass. Abundant nose with cedar, smokiness and soft leather. Earthy, with remaining black fruit, balsamic, liquorice. With some aeration in the glass getting more lively with more fruit and acidity. Very elegant and beautiful, even sensual wine.

1998 vintage

Excellent . Peppery on the nose, tongue and palate; nice smooth finish; lite dark fruit touch on the palate.

1998 vintage

Sweet earthy nose; soft and layered; coarse; mocha; round semi crunchy texture; coating; long, long smooth mocha coating finish; outstanding.

1998 vintage

A Year Later in Vero...; 3/17/2021-3/21/2021 (Vero Beach) : This was a pnp and it was ready for business right from the beginning. Drinking incredibly well. All gamey and a bit smokey and just a background of black fruit going. Really enjoyable.

1998 vintage

A Zoom tasting of decent wines. An excuse to be social. (Zoom) : Big blast of of white and back pepper. Some soy reduction notes and little fruit. If I didn’t know the wine, I would have guessed a southern Rhône. Medium weight, yet an excellent finish. Really good but not great.

1998 vintage

Earthy blackberry; coarse; concentrated; tannic; young; sweet fruit fwd finish.

1998 vintage

Tasted double blind. This is a great showing and at least this bottle seems to be at its peak. Wonderfully complex and precise with a full array of primary, secondary and tertiary aromas embedded in a soft structure with a good freshness. The complete package. After several closed and mediocre Chapoutier bottles this wine – notably not a vintage with crazy score – restored my faith in this producer. You just have to catch them at the right time. 96 …

1998 vintage

Tasted blind. Drank from decanter over several hours. Bright, shining red cherry embedded in lots of aging, clearly animal notes. Also white pepper and a whiff of sweet spices. Beautifully velvety tannins - yet with grip. In a magnificent spot right now - great, expressive fruit coupled with the ripeness of age. A lack of versatility is maybe what keeps me from going to the realm of excellence (95+). Impressive stamina even after hours in the glass.

1998 vintage

Initially earthy with light blackberry; later licorice, plummey black currant; sweet earth and moderate finish.

1998 vintage

A very precise wine, dark and opaque red, super dense and silky tannins, earthy notes with slight hints of menthol. It could probably evolve and open further. Though the aromatic density is never overwhelming, balance is key, reasonable level of 13% ABV makes this wine elegant and cool.

1998 vintage

Earthy raisen and cedar and chocolate; deep but light; long finish.

1998 vintage

Over the hill and a little off tasting. Likey just an off bottle

1998 vintage

Nez d'olives, de fruit noir, avec un peu de menthol. Les tanins sont fins, c'est un vin savoureux, dense mais très élégant, avec une belle longueur. Goûteux et profond, un vin étonnant dans ce millésime peu réputé. 93 pts

1998 vintage

i let it breathe in bottle for 2 hours and it was not enough. Wine seemed closed or thin. i will put this away for a while

1998 vintage

This is still quite young. It took at least 4 hours in the decanter before the wine began to open and soften and provide its, spicy, mineral, peppery, ripe, black and red fruit charms. It's hard to believe, but it could take 5-10 more years in the cellar, or 4-6 hours in the decanter, if you want to enjoy the wine.

1998 vintage

Really nice Hermitage. Started off fairly lean, with classic grilled meat and bacon fat notes. Over the course of dinner in the decanter it really put on weight (one can certainly debate whether this was for the better). In any case, really good now, but certainly plenty of life ahead.

1998 vintage

Austere, earthy and beautiful silky smooth blackberry; integrated tannins great balance and long finish.

1998 vintage

Superb hermitage. Enticing earthy bouquet, full-bodied on the palate with a long and soft finish. Drank along side 2000 Chapoutier Le Pavillion and it absolutely held its own.

1998 vintage

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M. Chapoutier, Hermitage, Le Meal Rouge

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