We had some great wines last night, but two Bordeaux from 1982 stood head and shoulders above the rest. I really loved both of these wines. If I had to pick one, I would give a slight edge to the Sociando for its thrilling feral wildness, but the Magdelaine was more of the room’s favorite.
1982 Sociando Mallet
Beautiful nose of pine resin, wood smoke, bell pepper, campfire ash, unsweetened chocolate, sagebrush. The bouquet grows with air as some sweetness emerges, but the nose is not flashy; it remains restrained, cool, classy, deep. To taste, there’s cassis, black olives, and some black tea notes. The fruit is quite earthy/leathery/cedary, but still beautifully intact. With air, some minty vanilla notes emerge. There are ample, hard tannins which harken to another era, but that are now silky smooth. I find this combo --silky iron-- pretty thrilling. Finishes long, cool, shrubby. This is the best bottle I’ve had of this, incredible. 94-95 pts.
1982 Magdelaine
So good. Sweet cherry fruit, almost confected, but with bright acids and stiff, bark-like tannins. Very pretty next to the beefier 82 Sociando, but with terrific persistence and concentration. There’s a wintergreen top note on the nose that I seem to get on all mature vintages of Magdelaine. As usual, quite Burgundian in style. Smooth, mature, balanced, complete. 94-95 pts.
