TNs: Mostly Bordeaux 1982

TNs: Mostly Bordeaux 1982
June 30, 1982

A truly enjoyable get together with the local Bordeaux regulars, plus John who ably filled in and added valuable insights on the wines and their producers. Dinner were steaks and assorted appetizers at The Capital Grille in NYC’s midtown west. A fun time catching up and drinking solid examples of 40 y o claret from the storied vintage.

2002 Piper-Heidsieck Cuvée Rare Millesime
Delicious citrus acidity molded within the hard-candy’ish, lush smoothness, lengthy finish. Most enjoyable. A-

1982 Ch. Grand Puy Lacoste, Pauillac
Tobacco bouquet. Big, savory, plenty of blue fruit, some spice and long. B+

1982 Ch. Gruaud Larose, Saint-Julien
Very appealing tertiary bouquet. Menthol, silky, and impressive balance. Red and blue just at the cusp of ripening. Classic. A-/A

1982 Ch. Canon, Saint-Emilion
Even with the pinch of harshness and perhaps just slightly beyond its best drinking plateau, the wine could still wow with the excellent mix of components. B+

1982 Ch. Magdelaine, Saint-Emilion
A most appealing nose including earth and ripe fruit. Continues the vintage theme of smoothness and ripe fruit components. Impeccable balance in an elegant mouthfeel. Would have loved to see how this holds up blind with heavy hitters from the vintage. A-

1982 Ch. Figeac, Saint-Emilion
I almost gave up with the funky bit at the onset that almost completely disappeared at the last pour. Night and day. Loire’ish cab franc herbal notes that appropriately melded with ripe berries. A classic, almost rustic, impression. B+

1982 Ch. Cos d’Estournel, Saint-Estephe
Acidity from raspberries and strawberries. A tinge of blockiness but with all nice tertiary characters of earth, leather that may have subdued the underlying fruit. B

1982 Ch. La Conseillante, Pomerol
Earthy with soft fine tannin, some red bell pepper note, and tremendously long finish. A-

1982 Ch. L’Evangile, Pomerol
My WOTN. Voluptuous, delineated, sexy with that veggie hint that amped up this excellent bottle of wine. When I dream excellent Pomerol, this will be in it. A-/A

edited: added image.

Figeac is one of those wines that you have a good shot at nailing blind. So many herbs. I slightly preferred La Conseillante over L’Evangile with Gruaud in third.

Sounds like a fabulous tasting. Thanks for the notes.

Sounds great. Would love to do a 1982 tasting.

Thanks Ramon. We mostly agree, here were my notes with group votes at end

Our Bordeaux group likes to hit the anniversaries, so we had to do 1982 at 40. A couple of folks had to cancel, but we wrangled a good guy to fill in,and had a full table at Capital Grille near Rock Center . A slow train made John and I a little late, but when we arrived were greeted by 2002 Piper-Heidsieck “Rare” Champagne, which makes up for late train.
Full rich style but with excellent acids, pear and lemon with brioche. Perfect wine for a private room (bottle is too gaudy for public) A-

I had a wedge salad and porterhouse, table shared bacon, truffle fries, spinach,asparagus,and lobster mac and cheese.
Wines were not blind, I think all double-decanted in afternoon.

1982 Gruaud Larose
An old favorite, but lotsof variability out there, but this bottle showed at very top of range, Rich and dark cassis fruit, coffee, cedar and just the slightest hint of Cordier funk (a barnyard in the distance). Plenty of gas left in the tank. A-

1982 Grand Puy Lacoste
Again cassis, this time accented with bell pepper and herbs.Again no hurry, medium framed but with power. B+

1982 Canon
Red and black plums, green tobacco, cedar. Good showing B+

1982 Magdelaine
Some divided opinions on this, but I was heavily on the “uh huh”side of debate, Black cherries, mocha, minty herbs. Not powerful but elegant, excellent length. A-

1982 Figeac
I ended up loving this, but it was a strange journey, Smelled fine in a herby Figeac style style when double-decanted in afternoon, and when first poured. Then the herbiness seemed to transform into something musty, and I began to wonder if corked. And then the mustiness just faded away completely. Black plums, herbs, pine needles, and graphite. B+

1982 Cos d’Estournel
There was nothing wrong with this, but I found it stolid and easily the least interesting wine of the night. Dark liqueur, vanilla, some tannic structure, lower acids. I’ve heard people refer to ‘82s as roasted, not my experience, but maybe a little here. I’d certainly drink but not search. B-/B

1982 L’Evangile
Black cherry and plum,cocoa, cigarbox, rich and long. A-/A
1982 La Conseillante
Paul said first bottle seemed a little wan, so he had very generously opened a second one. This one was spectacular. Exotic but classic at same time, with rick black plum, mocha, leather, and earth. Very long. And the night goes to the Pomerols (for me) A-/A

Great fun, Food was good, wine and company great. We did our usual 6 pt voting

Final Votes
1982 Gruaud-Larose 11 pts
1982 Grand Puy Lacoste 4 pts
1982 Canon 3 pts
1982 Magdelaine6 pts
1982 Figeac 1 pt
1982 Cos d’Estournel 0
1982 L’Evangile 11 pts
1982 Conseillante 13 pts



Grade disclaimer: I’m a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn’t drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

Lots of heavy hitters there! Impressive that everyone still has 1982 left in their cellars…my scant few acquired well after release are long gone.