The 1998 Angélus, a blend of 40% Cabernet Franc and 60% Merlot, is deep garnet colored with a touch of brick. The nose is completely...WOW! It has an incredible array of smoked meats, incense, cigar box and dusty earth notions over a core of baked cherries, dried mulberries, preserved plums and dried roses with wafts of lavender, menthol and new leather. The palate is medium to full-bodied, rich, intense and packed with black fruit preserves accented by complex savory and earth-inspired flavors, supported by wonderful freshness, textured by plush tannins and finishing with fantastic tension. This still has loads of life—25+ more years! - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

The 1998 vintage was a great success on the right bank and 1998 Angelus offer lots of crunchy sweetness and velvety vaults of almost perfectly mature fruit. This has always been a soft and seductive wine, smooth and creamy and at the same time built with a formidable skeleton to keep it going. The tell-tale Angelus sweetness soaks through this great wine which is just about ready now. However, I am not in doubt it still has a great future. - Ivar Bjurner

Intense aromas of coffee bean, chocolate and currant bush follow through to a full body, with soft and velvety tannins and a long and rich finish. The toasted oak still dominates the palate a bit, but it's rich and concentrated. Give it time still.—'88/'98 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2008). Best after 2010. – JS