98 Chateauneuf Under $38: Sabon Reservee

Posted by CrushWine

This offer is going to be like an arrow – straight and very fast.

No doubt you have a lot to do this week with the holiday weekend coming up and when you’re offering a great 11-year-old Chateauneuf-du-Pape from the glorious and rugged 1998 vintage at only $37.24, well...why belabor the point?

The 1998 Sabon Chateauneuf-du-Pape Reservée is just now coming into prime drinking form, with rich, deep and seductive dark fruit, herbs and smoky notes. It’d be flattering to think that we found this parcel and secured it just in time for the holiday weekend (is there anything better than grilling with Chateauneuf? The smokiness in the wine and food graciously complementing each other?), but the truth is this wine’s arrival late last week was totally happenstance.

Sometimes it all just comes together.

This is one of those offers that is likely to disappear quickly. What we’ll do is ask for your dream order, with the understanding that we may have to cut orders back to 3 bottles per person. We have only a few cases of this seductive and perfectly cellared gem, and the price is basically the same as (or in some cases a bit lower than!) the release price of the 2007 Sabon Reservée, so the value here is about as glaring as it gets. (Yes, this would be a “Back Up the Truck” if we had more.)

Sabon is one of those Rhône producers that is often overlooked, yet consistently produces some of the most compelling Chateauneufs out there. If the wines have a richness, a density and saturating sweet Southern Rhône fruit that suggest a more modern style, there is also a clarity to the wines, a ruggedness that keeps them well founded in the soil (which is, by the way, typical in its stony surface – the locals say “Galets” – with limestone, clay and silica underneath).

The 1998 vintage, besides being one of our absolute favorites in the Southern Rhône, also gives emphasis to the sinewy muscle, to the grip and fine tannic structure of this wine. This is what we call balance: luscious, coating dark fruit powered across the palate and defined by a fine acidity and an authoritative grip.

If there is a better red, or a better value, for the upcoming holiday – we’d like to see it! See complete tasting note belowand call the store at (212) 980-9463 or click below to order..


1998 Sabon Chateauneuf-du-Pape Reservee

Special Price: $37.24

No comparison price available in the US.
2007 Sabon Reservée priced up to $40!


Robert Parker for the Wine Advocate: “The outstanding, saturated dark plum-colored 1998 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reservee possesses notes of scorched earth, roasted herbs, smoked duck, and a boatload of kirsch liqueur fruitiness. Full-bodied, with moderate tannin and impressive purity and concentration, this wine should be cellared for 1-3 years, and drunk over the following 12-15.”

Wine is in stock!
NET / No further discount