Wine Ratings

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I have noticed serious bottle variation with this wine, but recently it has been consistently scoring in the 94-96 point range. Beautifully sweet, slightly herbaceous black currant, licorice, and earthy notes emerge from this nearly opaque, dark ruby/purple-tinged 1982. Compared to the more elegant, feminine-styled wine often produced here, it is a beast. Dense, thick, rich, concentrated, and impressive, it can be drunk now and over the next two decades. Release price: ($130.00/case)Robert Parker | 94 RP(Château Beychevelle) I had not crossed paths with a bottle of the 1982 Château Beychevelle since I wrote my feature on this fine estate back in the spring of 2011. The wine remains quite youthful for the vintage, offering up a deep and sappy nose of black cherries, cassis, a touch of bell pepper, cigar wrapper, a lovely base of gravelly soil tones and a fine dollop of spice in the upper register. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, complex and very refined in profile, with melting tannins, a sappy core and excellent length and grip on the just blossoming finish. This is quite tasty today with some time in decanter, but it is still climbing and in a perfect world, bottles would still be left alone in the cellar for another five years. (Drink between 2018-2060).John Gilman | 93+ JG

Intense aromas of kirsch, currant and spice follow through to a full-bodied palate, with round, velvety tannins and a long, long finish. This is complex, changing on the nose and palate. Layered and structured. Will improve for many years to come.--Non-blind Château Montrose vertical. Drink now.Wine Spectator | 96 WSUnder the ownership of Jean-Louis Charmolüe (who remained in place from 1960 until 2006 and who just died in January of this year). Gorgeous, brick-edged, soft brambled fruit, cassis and bilberry tinged with hedgerow, undergrowth, truffles. 100% 1st wine at this point, as Dame de Montrose arrived in 1986 - and yet the quality of the structure and tannins is still clearly on display. Drinking Window 2018 - 2040.Decanter | 96 DECThe 1982 Montrose served as my introduction to the vintage many moons ago and strangely, after all that time, this is the best bottle that I have encountered. Dark fruit on the nose with candied orange peel, cigar humidor and just a touch of sous-bois, this feels very focused and conveys more intensity than previous bottles. The palate is medium-bodied with plenty of dark red fruit, youthful and structured, maybe a little disjointed towards the finish, which for the first time, does not display any under-ripeness. Very fine. Tasted blind at the "Two" dinner at Domaine de Chevalier.Vinous Media | 92 VMA wine that has long enjoyed a somewhat mixed reputation, the 1982 Montrose continues to drink very well at age 40; in fact, this tasting note reflects the best bottle I’ve ever drunk of this vintage. Exhibiting aromas of sweet berry fruit, cedar box and loamy soil, it’s medium to full-bodied, supple and fleshy, with lively acids, melted tannins and a soft, subtly leather-inflected finish. While it isn’t as concentrated or characterful as the brilliant 1989 or 1990, for example, it’s a generous, open-knit wine that’s far from being in danger of imminent decline.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RP

(Château La Lagune (Haut Médoc)) Though La Lagune is listed as a wine from the Haut Médoc, I have always thought of it as really a wine from Margaux, as it lies just outside of the communal boundary there and stylistically, shares much with the wines of Margaux. The 1982 vintage of La Lagune remains the very finest year I have ever tasted from this consistently outstanding property. Today the wine is drinking at its apogee, but still has decades and decades of life ahead of it, with the superb bouquet offering up scents of black cherries, cassis, French roast, cigar ash, some gently roasted fruit elements, dark soil and a touch of toasty new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and absolutely velvety on the attack, with a sappy core, lovely focus and grip and a long, meltingly tannic and opulent finish. (Drink between 2016-2040).John Gilman | 94 JGUnquestionably the greatest La Lagune until the 2005 was conceived, the 1982 exhibits a dense ruby/purple-tinged color along with a big, sweet bouquet of black cherries, licorice, smoky toast, and forest floor, a plush, medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, and sweet tannin. It is close to full maturity, and should keep for another decade. Robert Parker | 92 RPVery dark garnet-red, with an inky center. Ripe berry and tobacco aromas. Medium- to full-bodied, with tobacco, raspberry and light toasted oak flavors. Silky finish. Outstanding, if not quite as impressive as I anticipated.--1982 Bordeaux horizontal. Drink now.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

A massive wine that is clearly of first-growth quality in this vintage, the 1982 Gruaud Larose remains a youngster. A broodingly dense, thick, unctuously textured, inky/plum/garnet/purple color offers up scents of beef blood, steak tartare, cassis, herbs, tobacco, and underbrush. One of the most concentrated wines of the vintage (as well as one of the most concentrated Bordeaux’s I have ever tasted), it is a huge, full-bodied, weighty, rich wine whose tannins are getting silkier and silkier. It appears set for another 30-40 years of life. This behemoth is a singularly profound example of Gruaud Larose that continues to justify its legendary status. Anticipated maturity: now-2050.Robert Parker | 98 RPThe 1982 Gruaud Larose has long been one of my favourite Saint Julien wines from that vintage. From magnum, the exquisite bouquet of black fruit, leather and hints of game and antique bureau is fully mature yet vigorous and so joyful. The palate is medium-bodied, with fine tannins that have melted in recent years. Here, there is more red than black fruit, suffused with tobacco, sage and cedar notes, impressive in terms of grip and fanning out gloriously towards the finish. Bottles with sound provenance are à point and will continue to give pleasure for another 20, perhaps 30 years. Tasted at the Lafaurie-Peyraguey vertical in Bordeaux.Vinous Media | 95 VMOne of the best wines ever made at this estate. Dense ruby color with a slight amber edge. Intense grape, berry and raspberry aromas. Full-bodied, with loads of velvety tannins and a long, ripe fruit and mineral aftertaste.--1982 Bordeaux horizontal. Drink now.Wine Spectator | 94 WS(Château Gruaud-Larose) The 1982 Gruaud-Larose is just starting blossom at age thirty and is a lovely example of the vintage. The deep and complex bouquet offers up a black fruity mélange of cassis, a bit of spiced meat, cigar ash, dark soil tones, a touch of petroleum jelly, nutskins and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and just coming out of its adolescent phase, with a rock solid core of fruit, ripe tannins and lovely length and grip on the modestly tannic and impressively tangy finish. For purists, there is a touch of brettanomyces here that they may find off-putting, but it is quite modest and I have no problem with this level of brett in a wine. (Drink between 2015-2065).John Gilman | 93 JG

(Château Rausan-Ségla) Popular claret culture, in the wake of Robert Parker’s pronouncement many years back that the 1986 vintage of Château Rausan-Ségla was the first top flight vintage here in a generation, tends to ignore the wines made here in the first half of the decade of the 1980s. However, I have been very impressed previously with both the 1983 and 1985 versions, and had higher expectations than any of my guests for the 1982 Château Rausan-Ségla in our lineup. Happily, my expectations were born out with a superb bottle and this has to be one of the finest wines made in the commune in 1982. The bouquet is beautifully complex and quite exuberant, jumping from the glass in the property’s signature blend of black raspberry, black cherry, cigar smoke, dark soil tones, a beautiful spread of spice elements, just a hint of nutskin and a discreet framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and really has an excellent core of fruit (particularly for a 1982 Margaux, as this commune is not as universally successful as most others in this vintage), with excellent focus and balance and still a bit of suave tannin adding backend grip to the long, complex and utterly satisfying finish. This is a bit more sappy at the core than the classical 1983, and has a bit less silky elegance of the 1985, but these three vintages at least prove that the reports of Château Rausan-Ségla not starting its renaissance until the 1986 vintage were a bit tardy! Fine, fine juice. (Drink between 2020-2050)John Gilman | 92 JG