Best left bank First Growth of the 80's

[Nicklasss]

Inspired by the last tasting done in Fort Lauderdale... and many producers were extremely good in the 80's... but

[Comte Flaneur]

Great question Nic, and one I thought long and hard about…one clear winner for me:
Lafite. Mouton comes second, Margaux third, Haut Brion fourth and Latour last, even though the 1982 Latour is arguably the greatest Bordeaux wine produced in the 1980s.

This is my logic:

[Nicklasss]

Yes, a good question Comte, and you need to have tasted many to assess. For my part, i did not had any Latour or Lafite from that era to judge correctly where those two Pauillac stand. But i believe you that Latour had a tougher time than other 1st in the 80's.

[Comte Flaneur]

Yes Nic the 1982 was somewhat of an exception to an underachieving decade for Latour. But it is very difficult not to make good wine at Latour given the terroir and proximity to the river. But by the end of the 90s the owners lost patience and brought in Frederic Engerer to restore Latour to its rightful place as the king of the first growths. Still prefer Lafite.

[jckba]

My experience with 80’s first growths (as well as from pretty much any other decade) is not really all that extensive but Mouton has been the most enjoyable based on my limited sample size.

[JimHow]

I've had the 81, 82, 83, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, and 90 Mouton.
I've thought every one of them was great, including the '81, which Parker rated 79 points.
I voted Mouton.

[DavidG]

Haut Brion has been my favorite for decades.

[dstgolf]

Tough to choose between such great wines. Like Jim Mouton is the broadest experience with 80,82,83,84,85,86,88,89 & 90 in the personal history books. I agree 82 Latour has probably won out as my favourite 1st growth of the decade. Haut Brion a very close second in a photo finish with Margaux personally having enjoyed everything but the 81 & 87 from the decade. Lafite has been my personal disappointment and have expected more from most vintages mostly coming up disappointed especially when being drank side by side with other 1st growth in its company. I certainly enjoy all of the 1sts but from a qpr sure any of these make sense anymore but a treat to enjoy whenever possible amongst friends.

[jal]

Margaux
Here's my rationale: in 81, 83 and 86 Margaux made the best 1st Growth. In 82, everyone made great wine, in 87 no one did (I don't get that rating for 87 Mouton Ian, I had it once and wasn't crazy about it, probably bad bottle but still.) In 85, 88 and 89 different winners but Margaux is always around the top. Chateau Margaux for the win!
Lafite second for me.

[Claudius2]

Guys
In this poll I couldn’t easily decide between Margaux and HB but picked HB only as I think it was so consistently good. Yet even the 1984 Margaux was very good.

If I rated which wine is the historical best since 1855, I’d guess Latour only as I’ve had more success with older vintages and romantically, Latour is the only wine I’ve ever drunk that was 100 years old or more. I think Francois would still say it was too young….

All these wines obviously deserve respect but Mouton was never my favourite and whilst style may be an issue, but it just does not shine so brightly in my eyes.

Cheers
Mark