Gruaud Larose 1982

The color is still opaque garnet/plum/purple. The wine shows licorice, copious quantities of blackcurrants and a hint of licorice, earth and tar. The wine is full-bodied, almost painfully extracted, but the sweet tannin and voluptuous texture that is so much a hallmark of this great vintage are all present in this amazing wine that seems ageless. It will hit 50 years in great shape.

One of the most powerful, massive wines of the vintage is the 1982 Gruaud Larose, a full-bodied, broad and concentrated effort redolent of ripe black fruits, loamy soil, smoked meats, leather, espresso roast and hints of cigar wrapper. Rich, layered and expansive, its deep core of ripe, fleshy fruit is framed by sweet, powdery tannins. As ever with the wines of the Cordier era, the fly in the ointment is that the wine's wild, somewhat animal profile is strongly marked by the presence of Brettanomyces, yet the 1982's intensely characterful, singular style means that I am personally able to overlook that defect. Still youthful, and actually evolving more slowly than the brilliant 1986, this is likely to number among the longer-lived wines of the vintage.

The 1982 Gruaud Larose is notable simply because it is still not at its plateau of maturity! This wine, at 33, ranks as one of the all-time greatest Gruaud Laroses ever made - right up there with the 1961 and 1945. The wine is dense purple/garnet, offering notes of beef blood, forest floor, oodles of blackcurrants and blackberry, in an almost primordial, concentrated, dense style. This is an amazing wine, which could be a 50- to 100-year wine when all is said and done.

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

Another extraordinarily powerful, backward wine with unlimited upside potential, the opaque plum/purple/black-coloured 1982 Gruaud Larose exhibits an explosive nose of new saddle leather, plums, prunes, black cherry jam, chocolate, steak tartare, and roasted espresso. Unbelievably powerful, thick, and intense, with full body, mouth-searing tannin levels, a grilled steak-like flavour, and a huge, intense finish, this is a monster, blockbuster 1982 that still needs 5-7 years of cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2030. It should prove to be one of the most profound Gruaud Laroses made in the twentieth century. In quality, it is a first growth.