Château Beychevelle 1982

I have noticed serious bottle variation with this wine, but recently it has been consistently scoring in the 94-96 point range. Beautifully sweet, slightly herbaceous black currant, licorice, and earthy notes emerge from this nearly opaque, dark ruby/purple-tinged 1982. Compared to the more elegant, feminine-styled wine often produced here, it is a beast. Dense, thick, rich, concentrated, and impressive, it can be drunk now and over the next two decades. Release price: ($130.00/case)

Get ready to pull the cork. Dark ruby-garnet in color, with plenty of roses and ripe fruit on the nose. Medium- to full-bodied, with lots of silky tannins. Almost dry on the finish, but finely textured. — 1982 Bordeaux horizontal. Drink now.

An expressive nose—heady and evocative still—a marker of the ripe, plush and powerful ’82s when they were born. Floral and fragrant with red and black fruit, some baked cherries and soft caramel notes alongside leather and cigar box. Determined and sinewy on the palate, tannins are sharp, full and focused. A lovely frame and sense of style, this has bite and tang with licks of wet stone, graphite, slate and pencil lead all combining alongside liquorice. This still has lots of life yet. Stylish and confident, vibrant and energetic still with excellent weight. Extremely enjoyable, in its prime but by no means tired—lots of life yet.

The 1982 Beychevelle is a vintage that I have not encountered for a number of years. This feels quite restrained on the nose; dark berry fruit commingles with black tea, autumn leaves and a background scent of kelp. The palate is medium-bodied with a soft, pillowy entry, slightly lower in acidity than its peers, with bay leaf and brown spices towards the gentle finish. Linear, but there is undoubtedly plenty of concentration here, perhaps a Beychevelle that is approaching the end of its drinking plateau? Very fine, very winsome. Tasted single blind at the 1982 dinner at Cornus in London.

The best bottle of this wine I have ever tasted really moved me. Served blind at the chateau, so you know the wine has perfect provenance, it was exciting from the initial sniff of cigar box, cedar, salt, rocks, cherry, and cassis. Full-bodied, supple, and fresh, there was length and purity. Extremely well-stored bottles have a good future here, as do larger formats. Otherwise, it is time to pull the cork.

First tasted in 1987 on New Year’s Eve: seemed closed and showed only about mid-range quality. What’s peculiar are this wine’s underlying aromas. Notes from 1991: open nose, warm terroir, smoke, couscous, herbs (tarragon), the bouquet also oddly recalls a mix of Gewürztraminer and Riesling – due to the slate. On the palate fully ripe with ripe tannins, again couscous and goulash aromas, cooked bell peppers, comes across almost sweet. In the following years I noted everything between Gewürztraminer and slatey Riesling, just not red-wine aromas. 99: herbal, cool, and already far along on the nose. Literally dries out in the glass. (15/20). 12: mature garnet, brick-colored rim. Vegetal bouquet; how can an ’82 be so grassy-green on the nose? Behind that, conciliatory sweet tones from the barriques. On the palate still holding up well; again you find pepper pods and wiry residual tannins. Went over better with the audience.

Silky, fragrant, sweet bouquet, red berries, balsa wood, green wood. Light to medium-bodied palate with delicate structure, dry tannins, slight unclean note, bitter finish. 16/20 to drink

Not decanted. Evolved, medium-intense color. Fine, fruity nose, fairly complex with appealing coffee notes. Silky, juicy palate, driven more by aroma than structure, and quite flavorful. Normal length, with a slightly brisk note indicating moderately ripe harvests. Past its peak, but will hold as is until 2018.