TN: 1982 Château Larmande (France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru)

WINE TALK
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  • 1982 Château Larmande - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (11/13/2009)
    Cork looked great, very saturated but concentrated on the bottom. Color was nice, light garnet, no bricking.
    The boquet had all the usual Bordeaux suspects (barnyard, cedar, lead), but I was slightly surprised at the presence of some bright red fruits, raspberry; also a bit of anise as it opened.
    The palate had a nice little spice to it mid-palate, and the tannins were completely gone. What dominated this wine was (back to the red fruits) the acid. It had a Barbera-like quality, very sour cherry.
    Popped and poured 1 glass, drank a second about 3 hours later. Not much of a change, the acid was still extreme, and in the 2nd glass I started to pick up a little brett (very slight).
    Nice bottle, too acidic for my taste at this point. $45 on winebid, made for a nice experiment. (88 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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Man, I remember how wonderful that wine was through the 80s, and it was a steal in those days. It makes me nostalgic! Unfortunately, I never had another vintage that matched the 82.

I’m not surprised if it’s a bit past its prime now, for it was very approachable even at release.

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thanks for bringing this over last night! i finished the rest of the bottle today, still a good deal of red fruit, with a much more pronounced earthy component compared to yesterday. you may sway me over to Bordeaux yet!

oh, and thanks for the barrel samples too - can’t wait to get my hands on the 08 Cab!

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