1998 Château Mazeyres

I'm with you - I had two bottles of this and they really didn't do anything for me over the past 2 years.

$45/Cdn for a wine rated 88 by R.P.???. OTW, were you under the influence when you purchased this one?

I paid $29.95Cdn (~$24US) for it in one of the Vintages sales a couple of years ago. Full price then was $39.95 (~$32US).

The max it was worth was $25Cdn, certainly not more.

Holy Cow, Al - I just looked up this wine on the Vintages Search page and, you're right, it is up to $45Cdn now. I think RP's tasting note was rather kind.

(At $45, I would have been better off taking it in for a refund/exchange!)

OTW,

1st In Europe the 1998’s sell for about € 20,00 nowadays.

2nd This wine is not ready yet. It needs time. It has al the ingredients to grow to full mature Pomerol of some class. It is not one of the Pomerol superstars but it is a far more than average Pomerol of consistent quality and some excitement. I would score this wine around 90 (but scores don't mean a thing to me)

Question: Why on earth are you drinking 1998 Mazeyres already in 2004??? Are you inpatient or what? Since 1996 this chateau made big improvement and 1998 is imho the best year until now. Just wait!

Drinking window imhop 2007-2012+

Maybe it will get better with time, but not much IMO - it was just bland and flat when I tasted them. I'm glad I only paid $22 per bottle a few years ago.

Nicollo:

The €20 price you mentioned is just a little higher than what I paid for it. But for $45Cdn (~29€), I can find many other more age-worthy wines to buy.

Secondly, you asked why I drank it "so early". I have a lot of wines filling my wine cellar that will not be ready to drink for a couple of years. And then I also have a stack of cases that are piled up waiting for room to get into my wine cellar. So, I have to prioritise what stays in line.

Frankly, I don't think the Mazeyres merits a place in line. As I said, it seems to have many of the attributes I expect to find in a Pomerol, but I found the finish quite thin and the aftertaste disappointing. I don't think aging it further will change these faults. By contrast, I have a number of bottles of 2000 Ch Montviel which I do merit keeping.

Since you say that Mazeyres have made big improvements since 1996, have reviewers reflected this in later vintages post 1998?

PS Nicollo,

I drank the Mazeyres over a 2-day period, and indeed, it was better on the second day which supports your point about this wine benefitting from more bottle age.

It doesn't make me want to buy any more of it (I wrote the TN after day 2), but you should keep yours for another couple of years before opening.