($265-$295) Full, bright medium ruby. Nose shows an almost liqueur-like ripeness, along with notes of bitter chocolate and menthol; a great expression of ripe but youthfully unevolved cabernet franc. Extremely dense and pure but still quite tight and showing a minty austerity. Wonderful acids give the wine superb clarity of flavor. This will require another decade to unfold. Finishes impressively persistent and juicy.

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Pierre Lurton prefers '98 to '00. He thinks 1998 is the single greatest Cheval Blanc of the second half of the 20th century. Much more intense and ripe than the 2001 on the nose. Slightly tarry and powdery. Smudgy and complex. Neat and sweet on the finish. Loganberries. Very flattering. Much denser and more youthful than the '01. Truly flamboyant.

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I seriously underestimated this wine, as I have often tended to do with Cheval Blanc. A potentially immortal example that has gained significant weight since it has been bottled, this blend of 55% Cabernet Franc and 45% Merlot has a saturated purple color and a glorious nose of menthol, plums, mulberries, new saddle leather, cocoa, and vanilla. Remarkably fuller-bodied than I ever remembered it young, with an amazingly seamless texture and tremendous concentration and extract, this full-bodied yet gorgeously pure and elegant wine is impeccably balanced and certainly one of the all-time great Cheval Blancs. If it continues to improve as much as it has over the last three years since bottling, this wine will certainly rival the 2000, 1990, and 1982. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2030. Last tasted, 1/03.

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Aromas of blueberry, sweet tobacco, leather and pipe tobacco turning to raisins and Christmas cake. What a wine. Full-bodied, with chewy tannins and a very well-integrated palate. Dark color. A big and powerful wine still. Blockbuster. Massive. Just a baby. - '88/'98 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2008). Best after 2013. 8,330 cases made.

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