Now that the palate's back I can try the other wine that Vino Me brought. I looked forward to this because I have some '00 Futures and I had never tasted before. I found rich tobacco, bittersweet chocolate, and blackberries on the nose. Re-tasting over the course of the night revealed smooth blackberry and black licorice notes. Drinking quite nicely with some air and should stick around for awhile. Good choice to precede the Faugeres. 90

My notes started to get real sparse and choppy at this point. All I have written down is "smoky licorice. 89P.". But I think I liked it pretty well.

I bought a case of this on release for under $20 per bottle. WS gave it 90 points. I think it is going through a small dumb phase at the present time. When I last had this in March 2001, it was drinking much better. Last week I noted the aroma of crushed grape skins with pleasantly bitter fruit on the palate. 90 points.

VM

1998 Château Fontenil - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Fronsac (6/21/2008)

I opened this with dinner last weekend . Allred and his wife came over. Anwar and his wife also stopped by after dinner. This is the 3rd time I have had this wine and it was the best it has ever been. Not decanted but opned about 2 hours before we drank it. Notes of leather, beef blood and plums. Old world style. Developing secondary character. Seemed to be drinking very well at 10 years old. Living up to the WS90 and Decanter 4* ratings that it received upon release. Good example of what the right bank accomplished in 1998. 91 points.

VM