Certainly better than the 1999, the 1998 Hermitage La Chapelle is a beauty, offering mature notes of dark fruits, Asian spices, peppery herbs, and incense. It’s medium to full-bodied, beautifully concentrated, and flamboyantly textured, with terrific overall balance. It’s one of the standouts in the decade (following the 1990), and while fully mature, it should hold nicely going forward.

Red-ruby. Expressive nose combines currant, roast coffee, chicory, underbrush and smoke. Suave yet penetrating in the mouth, with complex flavors of redcurrant, iron, minerals, smoke and tobacco. Finishes with dusty tannins and excellent length, though there still some acidity to be absorbed. This is showing well now, though its slightly more advanced aromatics suggest it will not be as long-lived as the '99.

The 1998 vintage was the first full vintage for winemaker Laurent Jaboulet. The 1998 Hermitage la Chapelle is a solid, complex, medium to full-bodied, elegant and fully mature la Chapelle that offers perfumed notes of Asian spices, dried flowers, ground herbs and sweet, dark fruits. Charming, supple and drinking nicely today, I'd lean toward enjoying bottles over the coming 5-10 years while it's still holding onto its pretty core of fruit.