40th anniversary 1982 first growth dinner

[Comte Flaneur]

On Wednesday night with some of the London crowd, names of contributors included.

Krug 2000 en magnum (Gareth)

An impressive beast of an object to behold, the contents of this bottle were in great nick, and such a thrill to have a large pour of fully mature Krug with that biscuity kruggy signature, which easily dominated some notion that this, as Chris noted, was a tad lean on the mid-palate, I would never get tired of glugging this …93


Malartic Lagraviere Blanc 2012 (Nobby)

Served blind, very pale and obviously young, but exuding class, and had us guessing that this may have been something grander. Benedict guessed Pape Clement. Nettles on the attack, and a nice smooth texture, the 80/20 SB/sem blend needs a couple of years to round out…excellent potential and reasonable vfm at ~£400ib…92

Malartic Lagraviere Blanc 2015 (Nobby)

Also served blind, this has developed a little bit of aged complexity and gave us a pointer as to where the 2015 is headed, but still pale and youthful…excellent…92


Now for the main event…

Lynch Bages 1982 (Gareth)

An excellent bottle, Lynch-Bages 1982 is still in a purple patch, and good bottles like this deliver oodles of pleasure. The apogee of Lynch Bages and classical Pauillac, it lacks the muscularity of the legendary 1989 but is all the better for it. It does have a hint of rusticity to remind you that it is mixing in the most aristocratic circles here, but this serves to magnify its appeal. It was the underdog in this company but went toe to toe with the very best and came out with such kudos. It is just such a delicious mouthful of claret…97

Pichon Lalande 1982 (Mike)

The last few bottles since the same event a decade ago, have suggested that this wine is on the downslope and that it peaked between 2000 and 2010. However this was a fabulous bottle and a return to the glory days for this legendary wine. Even more lush than the Lynch this is outright hedonistic, and has some roasted and mineral notes, but it still maintains that unique pleasing lean green streak, which is a Comtessa signature, to maintain freshness and equilibrium. This bottle also had plenty of grip and structure, lacking in previous bottles in the noughties…97

Leoville Las Cases 1982 (Mike)

A very different animal to its flight mates. It started off coiled, introverted and brooding, as is often the case with this famously reticent wine. But then it comes out of its shell to reveal its wares. What this wine has is a mesmerising layered and seamless intensity with menthol, lead pencil, minerals and graphite, which is absolutely compelling. It just comes in waves and waves; it is relentless and uncompromising. It is also timeless and the purest expression of this vintage on the night…99


Ausone 1982 (Benedict)

On to the next flight and we go from one extreme to the other. Among the first growths Ausone is arguably the least well understood and least appreciated, and it never tends to shine against its peers. In my book 1982 Ausone consistently delivers. It is a beautifully nuanced and elegant wine which whispers in your ear rather than shouts, with alluring notes of menthol and limestone from the plateau, it has a perfect grip, perfect texture and a lingering finish. This is elegance personified…97

Cheval Blanc 1982 (Alino)

The Cheval Blanc is much more overtly expressive than the Ausone, but comes across as a bit of a bruiser next to its St-Emilion flight mate, even dare I say a little uncouth. Don’t get me wrong this is a hugely enjoyable bottle of right bank claret with ripe compote red fruit and mocha, then tobacco and cigar box, but I have had slightly better bottles of Cheval Blanc 1982, like Howard’s double magnum a few years ago, for example. A wine that tends to dominate and lead from the front this wine was in the middle of the pack of Thorobreds on Thursday…96

Petrus 1982 (Michael)

A pristine bottle, and as we watched Donald like owls as he walked around the table giving us our pours, there was a palpable tension in the room. After all it is not everyday you drink 1982 Chateau Petrus. The last time I had it, in the year 2000, was in a Petrus-Trotanoy vertical held by a friend of mine who landed the job of head of corporate communications at Baring Bros and proceeded the plunder the company’s cellar. At the age of 18 it was awkward and out of sorts. At the age of 40 it is still not fully there. It reminded me of the LLC but was more difficult to coax. It has nice pure fresh merlot fruit from the Petrus clay, some faint floral notes and a perfect equilibrium, with a seamless continuous texture, similar to a young VCC. It reminded me of the 1990 which I had a year ago and is tightly shut down now. There is no doubting this wine’s potential, however, and I would expect this to shine at some point, perhaps on its 50th birthday when we do this again in 2032? For now 96 points, but with upside potential

On to the next flight…

Haut Brion 1982 (Jason)

A thrilling Haut-Brion, which unlike the 1989 and 1990, is fully mature and fully open for business. Consistently reliable and captivating, this was another excellent bottle, it has more decorum than its La Mission flight mate but is ultimately less thrilling, but after thinking long and hard this wine just snuck into my top five, a measure of how good it was…97

La Mission Haut Brion 1982 (Chris)

Carrying on from Chris’s triumphant La Mission dinner this was riotous, exuberant and absolutely thrilling, it does everything so well …with gusto. Dark chocolatey notes lead off the fireworks and it displays so much complexity. It is in a much better place than the backward by comparison 1989, and hence more enjoyable. Almost a hypothetical cross between the 1961 and 1989 you might say, I suspect it would have come up trumps at the Mission dinner. This was deservedly voted wotn…my second placed wine…99

On to the last flight of big hitters…

Margaux 1982 (Howard)

I have had mixed experiences with this - I have owned a case since the early 1990s - but the last time I tried it at Chris’s Ch. Margaux dinner I remember it was imperious. This bottle had the Margaux berry signature and is authoritative, stylish and accomplished, but in this bottle I detected a tiny hint of harshness on the mid palate…96

Latour 1982 (Comte Flaneur de Boulevardier)

I didn’t bring the Margaux, I brought the Latour. When I double-decanted it at 515pm the room was filled with those to-die-for Latour aromas, and I thought this bottle has ‘winner’ written all over it. It would leave the rest of the field trailing in its wake. But it was not to be. It was not a poor bottle, but it was definitely fully mature, and by the time it was poured 4-5 hours later it just seemed to lack that little bit of magic which in the past has put this wine on such a high pedestal relative to the others. I could not put my finger on why that was because it had that trademark Latour entry with some walnut liqueur, and it was opulent and regal with a sumptuous finish. It just didn’t stand out from the rest…and it lacked the thrilling intensity of its near neighbour the Lascases or the fireworks of the Mish…and the Mouton…97

Mouton Rothschild 1982 (Nobby)

While the Latour was a fully mature example, the Mouton was youthful and edgy, a bundle of pent up energy by comparison, and ever so vibrant, thrilling, exuberant and multifaceted. It thrived and revelled from being served in a bigger glass than Alino’s equally pristine bottle, back in late September. Where and how do you start to describe this? It had the swagger of the La Mission and (nearly) matched the intensity of the Lascases. This was another epic bottle of 82 Mouton…99

La Tour Blanche 2003 en magnum (Nobby)

I love La Tour Blanche and all the more so out of mag and this 2003 did not disappoint…93

[JimHow]

Holy cow....
So much for the notion that the 1982s are "in decline."
That was a question we asked way back in 2003 at the NYC convention when we drank the 36 bottles donated by the Anonymous Benefactor.
Fun notes to read!

[Blanquito]

You know, my first thought reading this was, what can you say? Speechless.

[Nicklasss]

Nice report Ian. That must have been a crazy dinner! Can't dream of a better night, with all bottles of 1982 almost all on their tops!

I really like to see Mouton, La Mission Haut-Brion and Léoville Las Cases as top performers that night.

1982 Mouton is still the top red wines i had up to now.

[JimHow]

We are now seeing consistent reports that the '82 LLC has FINALLY emerged.

[JoelD]

Wonderful tasting, Ian. I'll report back on an 82 horizontal that we are doing this weekend. We won't have some of these heavy hitters, but a few of them should be in there.

This must have been one of the great bottles of Las Cases? I know we've talked about a lot of bottle variation on these. I actually sold my 2 bottles earlier this year as I didn't feel like taking the risk. I got to try this again at the Saturday dinner and early it was very lean, however it really came around later and gained weight/intensity/spices. Wish I could have sat with it.

It sounds like either the Las Cases or Mouton were your WOTN. Did you pick a favorite between the two? It's been Very hard for me to do that at recent quality tastings.

[Comte Flaneur]

My top three were LLC, Mish and Mouton Joel

Good luck with your tasting

We are doing another one next week with the likes of Giscours, GPL, Duhart, Magdelaine, La Lagune, Calon, Sociando Mallet etc

[JCNorthway]

Holy cow....
So much for the notion that the 1982s are "in decline."

That was what I was thinking as I was reading your comments. It must have been an amazing evening with those wines - not a single loser.

[jal]

Wow!
Just phenomenal, Ian.
When even those mediocre 1982 Haut Brion and Margaux perform! And Ausone and Cheval. Like Patrick said - speechless

[SF Ed]

Nice work! I've had many of those wines but never all together - the closest would have been the epic BWE 1982 tasting so many years ago.

I had a great 1982 PLL back in the late 90s so great to see it is still performing well. I've never had a mature 1982 LLC or Latour, so glad to see that they are finally coming around.

SF Ed

[AlexR]

OMG, what an evening!
Kinda like you died and went to heaven....

Lowest score 96!
Bordeaux still rules .

AR

[Harry C.]

Wonderful evening it must have been. These are all first growths, so not surprised at all at the showing. Also, tasted by Brits who love their aged wines. The 82s that I declared drink up were all non-firsts and there were unfortunately no overlaps in wines with the convention wines.

[JimHow]

I love the "rusticity" of the 1982 Lynch Bages.
I've always felt 1982 was the year that Lynch evolved from the old school rustic, tobacco, coffee, Lynch into the glorious velvety, cassis, lead pencil Lynch of the Jean Michel Cazes 1980s.

[Musigny 151]

Mouton can be magnificent, but there is quite a bit of variability. I was at a Fete de la Fleur dinner celebrating the 150th anniversary of Rothschild ownership, so they pulled out cases of the 1982 from their own cellar. Amazingly, there were significant differences between the bottles, the best as Ian described, but a few barely made 90.

[Claudius2]

Guys
I can only assume that the wines were in perfect condition which is a big issue in either Asia or Australia.

Must agree with the LMHB - it was the 82 and 83 that convinced me that this wine is every bit a first growth. Pity others worked that out as it used to be a decant QPR.

[DavidG]

Wow, what a fun read. Awesome event! No doubt these were well stored.

[stefan]

Great report on a fantastic tasting, Ian. I regret that I have not tasted 1982 Ausone, which bested the wonderful 1982 Cheval Blanc in your estimation.

[Blanquito]

Such vivid, interesting notes, Ian. So many wine notes read like they were written by a basic algorithm and convey nothing about the experience of the wine. With your notes, I felt like I was in the room!

It’s threads like these that remind me what a plebeian I am. I’ve never tried most of these wines, but I am so grateful for the 4 from that list that I have had (all through BWE peerless generosity).

[s*d*r]

Fabulous event, fabulous notes. And even more to come, apparently . . .

I’ve been pimping these wines for years but your bottles mostly outperformed my recent tastes. Perhaps they were all on bond and perfectly preserved with ullage into neck.

The biggest difference to me was your Léoville Las Cases. I’ve never been thrilled with it even though it has finally matured. My bottles taste pretty good but lack the complexity age should have granted them.

Cheval Blanc, Lafite and Pétrus have usually disappointed me considering their reputation. Recent tastings of Pichon Lalande have been lackluster as well.

Mouton, Latour and La Mission Haut-Brion have been the most reliable superstars to me.

Glad to see how great your bottles showed.

[Comte Flaneur]

Stu
Going through the list
The Lynch was on great form. Almost or just about on a par with the one that Tim brought here five or so years ago
The Pichon was a great bottle, breaking a string of bottles that seemed past their best. This bottle had a good decade or more
I have had mixed fortunes with the LLC. This was a great bottle. I had one or two other great bottles of this. One in NY in 2008, but it was sooo young then
Ausone out of bottle was pulchritudinous in 2016 and 2022; out of 5L in 2018 it still had a ways to go
The Cheval was not the best bottle I have had. That was a d-mag in 2018 for Howard Ridley’s 80th. Howard was there on Weds
As I noted I only had the Petrus once before Stu, so I defer to your greater experience, but it reminded me of the 1990 that Alex, Blanquito and I drank just over a year ago, though not as painfully backward as the 1990
The HB was a very good bottle, one of the earliest drinking 82 FGs
Likewise LMHB, definitely the best I have encountered
The Ch. Margaux was definitely not the best bottle I have encountered, that was last year
Likewise Latour was a good but not amazing bottle, this bottle lacked the dynamism of some previous bottles
The Mouton was right up there with the best I have tried. Epic and timeless.

[JimHow]

From Merriam Webster:
"in good nick"
idiom
British, informal
: in good condition
I watched the team practice, and all the players looked in good nick.

Dictionary
"glugging"
Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more
glug
Learn to pronounce
INFORMAL
verb
gerund or present participle: glugging
drink or pour (liquid) with a hollow gurgling sound.
"he glugs down half his beer"

"Nettles on the attack...."
Not quite sure on this one, perhaps a reference to an herbaceous nettle leaf?
Urtica dioica, often known as common nettle, burn nettle, stinging nettle (although not all plants of this species sting) or nettle leaf, or just a nettle or stinger, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Urticaceae. Originally native to Europe, much of temperate Asia and western North Africa,[1] it is now found worldwide, including New Zealand[2] and North America.[3][4] The species is divided into six subspecies, five of which have many hollow stinging hairs called trichomes on the leaves and stems, which act like hypodermic needles, injecting histamine and other chemicals that produce a stinging sensation upon contact ("contact urticaria", a form of contact dermatitis).[5][6]
The plant has a long history of use as a source for traditional medicine, food, tea, and textile raw material in ancient (such as Saxon) and modern societies.

"vfm"
Value for money.

"noughties"
Dictionary
Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more
nought·ies
Learn to pronounce
nounBRITISH
plural noun: noughties
the decade from 2000 to 2009.
"he became one of the biggest stars of basketball in the noughties"

[Racer Chris]

I've never eaten nettles or drank nettle tea, but I have been in contact with them and they do indeed sting as described above.

Very impressive lineup. I've had one of those wines anyway - 1982 Ch. Margaux.
My list is short but the Talbot I opened last March was the best '82 Bordeaux I've had.

[greatbxfreak]

Ausone 1982 was made by Pascal Delbeck and is probably the best Ausone he has ever made.

Ian, I agree with your tasting notes. I haven't yet tasted Cheval Blanc, La Mission, and Haut Brion in vintage 1982.

I tasted L.Bages 1982 and Latour 1982 in October last year, beautiful bottles with Lynch Bages showing a bit better than Latour.

Pichon Comtesse was outstanding in April 2018, tasted at the chateau.

[Claudius2]

I've never eaten nettles or drank nettle tea, but I have been in contact with them and they do indeed sting as described above.

Very impressive lineup. I've had one of those wines anyway - 1982 Ch. Margaux.
My list is short but the Talbot I opened last March was the best '82 Bordeaux I've had.

Chris
I am pretty sure that nettles are used to make Noo Zeelund Sav Blanc. I know that others seem to think erroneously that it is made from fruit but I’ve never tried a bottle that tastes remotely like any type of fruit on the planet.

Secondly I have no interest in drinking anything that smells like a cat litter tray and I’ve changed them more times than I care to remember.

Cheers
Mark

[robert goulet]

WOW

Bobby and I had the '82 HB a couple yrs back...classic textbook graves, drinking at peak...steller