This is my end of year round up of favourite wines drunk during 1998. This was a nice opportunity to look through all my notes and recall some fabulous wines. I suppose I taste/drink over a thousand wines in a year, so compiling this choice isn’t easy. Some wines, like the Grange 1993 simply jump out, because they are so expressive and unique within their category, others like the Chablis that won the best white award, required a lot of thought to seperate a few very close contenders. I have split my wines of the year into seven categories:
Best red wine – Penfolds (Australia) Grange 1993
Best white wine – Domaine de L’Eglantière (France) Chablis 1989
Best budget red – Montecillo (Spain) Viña Cumbrero, Rioja Crianza 1995
Best budget white – Rothbury (Australia) Hunter Valley Verdelho 1997
Best sweet wine – Domaine Guirouilh (France) Jurançon Moelleux V.T. 1995
Best sparkling wine – Veuve Clicquot Vintage Champagne 1989
Best fortified wine – Van Loveren (South Africa) Sweet Red Muscadelle 1993
Read the tasting notes for my best wines of 1998
It’s cheating I know, but this is such a tough task that I’ve allowed myself another baker’s dozen that really stood out and could easily have made this list:
Château de Beaucastel (Rhône) Châteauneuf-du-Pape 1994
Paul Jaboulet Aine (Rhône) Hermitage La Chapelle 1996
Laurent (Burgundy) Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaumonts 1995
Sean Thackrey (Napa) Orion Old Vines 1995
Château Beychevelle (St-Julien, Médoc) 4th growth 1985
Château Poujeaux (Moulis, Médoc) Cru Bourgeois 1982
Bodegas Fernandez (Spain) Pesquera 1985
Château de la Tuilerie (France) Costières de Nîmes Vieilles Vignes 1996
Künstler (Germany) Hochheimer Hölle Spätburgunder Weissherbst Auslese 1992
Ceps de Sud (Languedoc) Old Vine Vermentino VdP 1996
Grans-Fassian (Germany) Leiwener Klostergarten Riesling Spätlese 1983
Shafer (Napa), Barrel Select Chardonnay 1993
Marcassin (Napa) Upper Barn Gauer Vineyard Chardonnay 1994
Château d’Yquem 1990
See also visitors wines of year 1998.