Wine Advisor
Le Bon Pasteur 1998
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 1998 Le Bon Pasteur has a fine, precise bouquet that is very tightly wound, despite affording it a couple of hours in the glass. Dark brambly black fruit mingling with black olive and a slight ferrous scent, it has a floral allure. The palate is medium-bodied with good acidity and freshness, nicely poised with a certain linearity that I find very appealing. One comes away with the sense that it will offer more in five or six year’s time. Excellent. Tasted August 2011.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
This exquisite Bon Pasteur is the most compelling wine produced at this estate since Michel and Dany Rolland's sumptuous 1982. With an opaque black/purple color, it has an exquisite nose of blackberries, subtle toasty oak, minerals, and floral scents. The wine is medium to full-bodied and gorgeously concentrated with low acidity, high tannin, and sensational extract and purity. A profound Bon Pasteur, it will age effortlessly for 15 or more years. Anticipated maturity: 2004-2015. Bravo!
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
An unquestionably fine wine, it boasts a dense purple color in addition to a sweet nose of mocha-infused chocolate, blackberries, smoke, and roasted espresso. Highly-extracted, rich, and intense, with no hard edges, this sweet, full-bodied, concentrated offering possesses the lush mid-palate and long, multilayered finish that separate an exceptional wine from something very good. The fleshiness, low acidity, and ripe fruit will make it drinkable young, but it should evolve nicely for 12-18 years. Bravo!
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Compared to the L'Evangile 1998 this is far more simple, yet appears to be great(er) value for money. A tight nose at first, quite primal before blossoming with mulberry, blackcurrant, raspberry and a touch of gaminess. The palate is well-structured, balanced and more fleshy than the L'Evangile. But upon further reflection, there are certainly some fine filigree tannins underneath. Very fine indeed. Wait another 4-5 years. Tasted July 2006.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the chateau with Dany Rolland as part of a vertical. This has a great nose, very well defined, very pure fruit, blackberry, raspberry, a touch of liquorice and a superb sense of minerality. The palate is medium-bodied, very fine tannins, much more feminine, seductive, bewitching poise and focus and you almost do not notice the backbone present in the wines. Slightly smoky towards the finish, good persistency, this is a superb Le Bon Pasteur with great ageing potential. Tasted September 2009.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The dense purple-colored 1998 boasts a beautifully rich, complex perfume of blackberries, plums, lead pencil, cherries, mocha, and caramel. Powerful and rich, with a multilayered texture, and an opulent, viscous finish revealing enough sweet tannin for definition, this is a terrific, full-bodied, seamless effort from one of the world's greatest winemakers. Anticipated maturity: now-2016.
About the Producer
Château Le Bon Pasteur is a Pomerol estate, known for both the lush, supple quality of its wine and its history as the family property of the renowned wine consultant Michel Rolland. The seven-hectare (16-acre) vineyard is located on the boundary with Saint-Émilion and has a wide range of soil types. It is planted predominantly to Merlot, with 15-20 percent Cabernet Franc – exact proportions are hard to measure as some plots are mixed. Some of the vines were planted in the 1950s. The grapes are harvested by hand, and are fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats. The wines are then aged in predominantly new French oak for around 18 months and bottled without fining or filtration. World-renowned winemaking consultant Michel Rolland took over the running of Le Bon Pasteur in 1978, although the estate had been in the family since 1920. It was sold to a Chinese investor in 2013, although Rolland remains as winemaker and estate manager.
