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More Reignac: 1998
By perryd | February 19, 2008
I have a good selection of Reignac in the cellar, from 1996 to 2005. I fell in love with Yves Vatelot’s story in William Echikson’s Noble Rot, how he invented a women’s razor after watching his girlfriend shave her legs, sold the business to Gillette, and bought a run-down patch of vineyard in Libourne on the the right bank. Yves and his wife Stephanie make some truly incredible wine by paying attention to every single detail, and it doesn’t hurt that Michel Rolland has worked with the Vatelots for several years.
The 1998 is remarkable. It was a good vintage overall, especially around St. Emilion, although eclipsed and perhaps overshadowed by the 2000 and 2001 harvests. My experience has been that Reignac is pretty hot early on and needs a few years in the bottle to mellow. The 1998 seems to be peaking right now…it still has a lot of freshness, but it’s balanced with that beautiful deep, sherry like flavor that I’ve come to expect. A lot of ‘98 Bordeaux Superiors would be getting flat about now, but I fully expect the Reignac to keep on delivering for at least a few more years. This is another high-value, low-price wine that you should keep an eye out for.
Topics: Wine |
April 22nd, 2008 at 2:50 pm
I am also a happy winecommune customer. I picked up a bunch of these at auction in .375’s. I like them decanted after about an hour, so I think they still have 2-4 years left in them. Larger formats can probably go 4-7 years more.