Medium garnet-brick in color, the 1998 Peby Faugeres opens with a decadently fruity nose of blueberry compote, plum preserves and dark chocolate with wafts of sweaty leather, camphor, chocolate box and Ceylon tea plus a hint of truffles. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is chock-full of black and blue fruit preserves with the acid sitting nice and subtle in the background and plenty plush tannic structure in the forefront. It finishes on a lingering earthy / barnyard note. This wine still has a lot of fruit and life ahead of it, but you'll need to be able to appreciate that sweaty leather component to truly love this wine. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

A very dense and rich nose of Christmas pudding, sultanas, blackberry and raspberry. Full-bodied and very tightly knit, like a wound-up ball of silky thread. Fantastic, but needs time still. Much better than I remember.—'88/'98 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2008). Best after 2010. – JS