TNs: Left Bank 1982 Bordeaux at Riverpark

[Ramon_NYC]

Left Bank Bordeaux Vintage 1982
Riverpark Restaurant, NYC
03/08/2012

We decided on mid-tier 1982 Left Banks to kick-off what sounds like a potential mini-series of Vintage1982 tasting/dinners. Thanks to Dale who undertook the organizational efforts and to the rest of the regulars for the wines and the always-enjoyable company. As it was before, service at Riverpark was very efficient, professional and contributed to our overall enjoyment and intention. I loved our shared starter of oyster tacos and cheese empanada. I found my grilled calamari salad appetizer to be a surprisingly good match with the early red flights; while my perfectly-done medium-rare roasted leg of lamb entrée was complimentary of the latter flights.

The whites:

1998 Billecart Salmon Cuvee Elisabeth Salmon Brut Rose
This stern, full-bodied, with hints of good hard red candy, layered by mineral undertones and soft yeasty bread. One of the top wines of the night. Thanks Dale. B++

2006 Pascal Cotat “Le Grande Cote” Chavignol Sancerre
Corked. This was literally a last-minute pull from my home wine unit and will now keep fingers crossed that remaining bottle is in much better shape.

2007 Fontaine-Gagnard “Les Vergers’ Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
Ordered from the restaurant wine list. Woody, buttery nose. High acidity, big lemony fruit, and quite tight at the moment. B


The reds:

1982 Ch. Branaire Ducru, Saint-Julien
Tertiary leather bouquet with slight fishiness. Plenty of herb within ripe black and blue fruit and more effeminate than the rest. Imho, the bottle’s just slightly past it’s best drinking days, but I still liked. Long finish. B+

1982 Ch. Beychevelle, Saint-Julien
A younger-smelling bouquet with some cigar and confection. The wine was quite austere. Sour acidity. A bit short on the finish. B

1982 Ch. Ducru Beaucaillou, Saint-Julien
Appealing tobacco, fresh meat and leather notes. A smooth claret, well balanced with resolved tannin and fruit that was quite fresh and firm. A masculine claret. My WOTN and group’s consensus WOTN. A-

1982 Ch. Leoville Las Cases, Saint-Julien
Plenty of fresh herb with the slightest funkiness on the nose. I found this a bit too lean on the fruit and just a tad bit more sour than I like. Seems still young at this point. Good length and intriguing as to where it ends up with more bottle age. B

1982 Ch. Gruaud Larose, Saint-Julien
Corked, but I thought, just mildly, as I believe that I am less-than-sensitive than most. Drinking through it, I thought there was good structure and fine levels of good black fruit. Being that this is a corked bottle, I am looking very much forward to drinking a good bottle someday. B

1982 Ch. Grand Puy Lacoste, Pauillac
Excellent nose featuring cigar, leather and scorched earth. A lean, medium-bodied effort that pleased with it’s nice structure. Would have been my 2nd place WOTN had we counted. B++

1982 Ch. Calon-Segur, Pauillac
Another Pauillac with that enticing smell. This one showed more fruit, in layers, roasted herb and bigger-bodied than the GPL. B

1982 Ch. Montrose, Saint-Estephe
Some funkiness on the bouquet. A very ripe taste, but still exhibiting some austerity. Some green vegetable. Fleshy and high in acidity. Not as good as previous bottles that I’ve had, but there’s enough here to keep me interested. B+

[DavidG]

Thanks for the report Ramon. Love the '82 Ducru and GPL. Too bad about the Gruaud - that's another awesome wine.

[Ramon_NYC]

You're welcome David.
Yeah, I was bummed about the '82 Gruaud. Only tasted it once, as far as I can recall, and was looking forward to tasting again.