My Article: My 10 Best 1982 Bordeaux and Happy 2013!

I wanted to write a short blog on the 1982 vintage for Bordeaux as 2012 comes to an end. We have just today. So I wish you a Happy New Year!

As I wrote recently, the 1982 vintage changed my life in many ways. Most importantly, it etched in my mind how a great young vintage in barrel should taste. It taught me that great wines are always great, no matter if they are tasted from barrel or bottle, young or old. The best 1982s were fabulous from barrel and many are still fabulous today. And they are 30 years old.

I still remember tasting in the cellars of Chateau Prieure-Lichine with the late wine author and vintner Alexis Lichine, and how he explained to me why the 1982 vintage was great. He also was upset that the then New York Times wine critic panned the vintage. But it doesn’t really matter now.

“We have to teach this young American wine writer what makes a vintage of Bordeaux great,” Lichine said during a lunch in his kitchen after the tasting. There are some major names there from Bordeaux: Bruno Prats (then Cos d’Estournel), Anthony Barton (Leoville-Barton), and Jean-Eugene Borie (Ducru-Beaucaillou), and Hughe Lawton (the late great wine merchant and father of this site’s blogger/negociant Pierre Lawton.)

Alexis became a true mentor of mine in the mid-1980s when I lived in Paris and traveled every other week to Bordeaux. It was an important time in my life as a wine critic and foreign correspondent for The Wine Spectator.

I don’t think we can say that the 1982 vintage changed everything for Bordeaux. Yes, it did resemble modern vintages of today with its rich fruit, relatively high alcohol, and ripe tannins, but this was more due to Mother Nature than the winemaking intentions of the chateaux. There were similar hot vintages in the past such as 1959 and 1947.

Perhaps the timing of the vintage was more important. It was a vintage where a whole generation of new wine consumers in North America began buying fine Bordeaux – our generation. In addition, it was the year that wine critic Robert Parker coined his own and launched his career. He’s more than 10 years older than I am and I didn’t have the experience or the right platform at the time to do more than just report. But he deserves all the kudos for calling the vintage as great early – as most of us know.

Anyway, most of you know the rest. You know about the exceptional weather during the growing season. You know that many people were better prepared in Bordeaux in their vineyards and cellars to capitalize on the quality of the grapes they harvested in 1982. You know about market and how reasonably priced the 1982s were as futures, and en primeur, in 1983 and 1984. And, of course, you know how expensive the best 1982s are today.

Below is my list of the best 1982s to drink today – if you can afford them. Most 1982s I have consumed in the last two years – mostly in Hong Kong – are wonderful quality. I am not sure that many exceptional 1982s are out there – 95 points or more – but the best are fabulous. Also, some of the famous 1982s such as Petrus, Le Pin, and Leoville-Las-Cases have not been what they should be. Granted, they are outstanding wines but not 95 points or plus.

I would drink my 1982s if I have them now. But they have a long life ahead as well.

I’m also including links to three videos from late 2010 on a small 1982 Bordeaux tasting in New York City I did with Michael Diamond of the Beastie Boys, Jay McInerney of The Wall Street Journal, and New York wine merchant David Sokolin (watch: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). I hope you enjoy them.

Again, Happy New Year!

Click for the notes – available to subscribers or using a free day pass.

Château Mouton-Rothschild Pauillac 100 points

Château Lafleur Pomerol 99 points

Château Latour Pauillac 98 points

Château Margaux Margaux 97 points

Château Cheval Blanc St. Emilion 97 points

Château Canon St. Emilion 97 points

Château La Mission Haut-Brion Graves 97 points

Château Lafite-Rothschild Pauillac 96 points

Château Haut-Brion Graves 95 points

Château Trotanoy Pomerol 95 points