elvis has left the building

jean grivot clos de vougeot 1998
dinner sunday; cold cuts and cheese; last bottle of "real" burg obtained some time ago;

garnet/slight bricking; nasty pong when uncorked, cork looked fine, in hope, left the thing standing in the decanter for about 30 mins., much less unpleasant but still bad ... heart sank although was mentally prepared for it before the corkscrew dived in ... sh*t happens ... and with this kind of drink, it happens a lot; smell of wet fur/cardboard/bark and plastic, [someone said sweaty clothes], cannot really get past it, brett? ... brett. surprisingly some of the others did not mind?!; this was definitely not the expected whiff of barnyard/truffly odour (quite nice actually) which is sometimes present, this was "Funkeee";

if you can get past the bad stuff ..., some cherry, plum, some tobacco/cedar, palate still fruity, wood not obtrusive, tannins fine and not very firm, still a little acidic, some stalkiness, but no mid palate plumpness; medium bodied; longish; would have been quite nice if ...... what a disappointment; 13% i think ... but who cares. FIZZLE!

earlier 96s, 97s and 98s were nice with food ... but details are elusive ... long term memories are not a forte, which is a pity as this punter does not expect to partake of these wines anytime in the near future.