Readers will already be aware that I absolutely adore the late Philippe Engel's wines, but the 1998 Grands Echézeaux was perhaps not his finest. The nose has a little brettanomyces and is too diffuse for my liking, with touches of Italian cured meats infusing the mulberry fruit. The palate is disjointed at first, though it does coalesce in the glass and delivers a lovely herbaceous, tertiary note towards the finish without ever troubling the stellar heights of say, the 1999 or 2002. I would drink bottles over the next 3-5 years.