Château Margaux 1982

Consistently scoring between 98-100, the superb 1982 Margaux may be slightly bigger, bolder, and more masculine than vintages produced over the last 15-20 years. Its dark plum/purple color is followed by notes of melted tar intermixed with sweet cassis and floral underpinnings. Very full-bodied and dense for a Chateau Margaux, with a slight rusticity to the tannins, it boasts blockbuster power, richness, and impressive aromatics. It appears set for another 30-40 years of life. Release price: ($360.00/case)

Vibrant, elegant and characterful – a complex nose full of floral scents, baked blackcurrants and cherries, totally beguiling yet delicate and graceful. A smoky palate with charred toast, caramelised fruit, cigar smoke and truffles. Tannins are fleshy, almost chewy, with bright, lively acidity. Sharp, smooth, deep – this offers such interplay of power and grace, and such a long finish that still has a menthol, liquorice tang and bite, reminding you that there is much more to come from this exceptional wine.

This perfectly stored bottle surprised me with its power. Multiple layers of richly-textured black, with red fruits, cedar, herbs, tobacco and dried floral notes were all over the place. More youthful than expected, well-stored bottles could still improve! Drink from 2026-2040.

Strong crimson garnet, discreet ochre reflections, broad and bright rim. Multifaceted bouquet, nuances of fresh dark berries, black cherry, a hint of nougat. Juicy, ripe cherry, fine fruit expression, well-integrated tannins, chocolaty touch, then a bit leaner on the finish, blackberry and fresh, vivid tannins, salty minerality on the finish, chocolaty aftertaste. (2019).

The 1982 Chateau Margaux is glorious stuff and is Margaux in all its finesse and elegance paired with serious richness, power, and depth. Awesome blackcurrants, smoked earth, lead pencil, truffles, and hints of dried flowers all emerge from this full-bodied, remarkable, seamless effort that is loaded with fruit and texture. With a thrilling sweetness of fruit, perfect balance, and a magical sense of opulence paired with classic Bordeaux elegance, this is Haute Couture at its finest. It’s fully mature, but sound bottles should easily keep for another two decades.

Naturally, this was one of the highlights of the tasting. The eternal comparison between the two vintages 1982 and 1983, which often polarizes one way or the other. Both are truly great – yet different. Cloudy ruby. A glorious, overwhelming bouquet of great breadth, finesse and depth. Still enormously powerful and intense, the perfect expression of that irresistible Margaux perfume that truly sets its devotees’ hearts racing. If you could bottle it as a perfume, I’d buy it on the spot. There’s also mint along with stony-earthy notes suggesting minerality. On the palate it fans out broadly, yet is exquisitely delicate, with Burgundian elegance and suppleness, almost seductive. This regal elegance is paired in the grand finish with the finest licorice and ethereal notes that bring freshness. Truly great Margaux cinema, perhaps at its last great peak. 19.5/20 to drink

A cloud of peonies and gunsmoke immediately strikes as you approach the 1982 Château Margaux, and it stands out for its finesse and charm. The tannins continue to cradle the fruit; this is richly nuanced, with pencil lead, strawberry purée, truffles, ash, cocoa, rose petals and saffron. Owner Corinne Menzelopoulos had succeeded her late father as head of the estate in 1981, working with estate director Philippe Barré. Perhaps Paul Pontallier’s arrival the following year helped cement the reputation of the exceptional 1983 at Château Margaux, but the 1982 is clearly rivalling it in recent tastings.

The 1982 Chateau Margaux has a pale to medium garnet-brick color. It hits the ground running with fragrant notes of kirsch, candied violets, licorice, and crushed rocks, over a core of crème de cassis, baked plums, and redcurrant jelly. The medium-bodied palate is opulent, laden with layer upon layer of black berries and cherry-inspired flavors, supported by a satiny texture, finishing with seamless freshness and a long, lingering firework display of mineral and exotic spice sparks. A jaw-dropping natural beauty! Tasted at the chateau.

Logo on the cork: unreadable Dark, intense color, slightly evolved. Intense, refined, pure nose with ripe fruit, once again a note of plum and a mix of cedar and vanilla. Very fine entry on the palate with meticulous texture. Then the wine melts, suave, with ripe flavors, particularly fruity and spicy mid-palate. It bounces back on the finish, but its weak point remains its lively edge. Good length. As it stands, it can age another 20 years. The magic lies in the fact that apart from the color, it doesn’t show its age at all.

Very often drunk. Never counted among the truly great wines of the 1982 vintage. In 1986, during a blind tasting, it struggled greatly and showed itself in a difficult state, as it obviously fails to harness its potential. The ’83 is better! In 1992, I tasted it three times and still no excitement. Especially considering that I’m the only one who doubts its reputation: dense purple with fine brick-red highlights at the lightening rim. Open, warm nose, dried fruit, smoky note. On the palate, on the one hand wrapped in fat, on the other masses of dry tannins on the tongue. Of all the participants, my score was the lowest. I still maintain that the ’83s from the Margaux area are all greater than the ’82s. With one exception: Château Lascombes! In 1995, in a blind tasting, I immediately guessed the wine: it still seems blocked at the moment, showing none of the charm one would otherwise expect from a Château Margaux. Still, I thought it was developing more and more positively, since in the same year it was one of the big disappointments in a blind tasting of ’82s. 99: Compote-like nose, smelling of raisins and overripe grapes. On the palate, dry tannins, sweet paprika, very concentrated, but it lacks fat and class (18/20). 00: Served blind after Haut-Brion 1982 as an extra: it is certainly developing now—with further bottle age—more charm, yet the fine dryness still prevents top scores. Still, the wine shows a buttery sweetness and further potential. So it may yet improve. Whether it will be a serious competitor to the dramatic 1983 Margaux, I still doubt in the long run!? 01: Just before Christmas, served blind: at first I thought it was a Léoville 1990, because there were caramel, butter and gentle roasted notes. Not particularly thick, rather elegant, a fine wax tone and a delicate, still very young fruit. On the palate, much slimmer than the bombastic ’83, but also delicate here, with mulberries and still very youthful fruit. 03: Seven great wines stood side by side, all served blind. In the first glass, this 1982 Margaux: somehow it didn’t really appeal to me, showing a slightly metallic acidity and the tannins searching for a link with the fat and flesh. After I had tasted all the other wines, I tasted the first wine again. I always do that to give the wine a second chance. The power is there, but after twenty years, this expensive ’82 Margaux (more than twice as expensive as the ’83!!!) still hasn’t found its harmony. For me, the warranty period is over and the wine now loses a point. 05: From magnum, again completely undeveloped and almost reductive. 07: Hardy Rodenstock let the wine decant for two hours and I thus experienced my best Margaux 1982 moment to date. So the wine is finally coming around. It was very complex, sweet and showed notes of roasted almonds. Close to 19/20. I now raise it again to 18/20. 07: Medium-dark, purple at the core, rusty reflections on the rim. Slightly sweet, somehow slender at the beginning, but surprisingly fresh thanks to its herbal and mint notes, also showing fine traces of volatile acidity. Juicy palate, dancing, with medium sweetness, gently dry tannins inside, where one is not sure whether they still point to reserves or merely keep the wine going (17/20). In Spain, René Schmidlin placed this wine next to the 1989 Margaux. And the 1982 had no chance. It is losing more and more fruit and metallic notes are emerging. On the nose, I even found polyester tones. The finish is not “Margaux-sweet” enough to truly belong among the great Bordeaux. Thanks to highly praised Parker points for wine-dumb millionaires with more money than sense. (16/20). 10: Delicate, perfumed nose, showing a lovely sweetness, gently raisined but also with something fresh in the form of cranberries, Dominican tobacco, figs and raisins. On the palate, lots of substance, but unfortunately also certain clunky tannins that do not quite fit a Margaux nor the 1982 vintage. 12: Unfortunately a corked bottle in Ludwigshafen. (18/20). 15: You need nerves of steel. Or a very large dose of valerian drops! In the same 1982 series, the Las-Cases was already corked. Then one could cheer up with the sensational Lynch-Bages and the classic Palmer 1982. And then this: the magnum of Château Margaux was corked. 3000 euros for the tap… 16: Medium garnet with few maturity tones. Begins minerally, flinty touch, candied fruit notes, Darjeeling tea, red prunes and light leather notes. On the palate, frankly sweet impressions on the outside, inside still grippy and showing grainy tannins. In its basic taste, it recalls an aged Maremma wine. The extract is meaty with a core that’s sturdy and peppery, the tannin seems half blocked. Somehow this results in a “more power than juice” variant. Will it still evolve, or retain its somewhat awkward character? If one usually ascribes something feminine to a great Château Margaux, this is the male opposite module. The 1983 is still significantly cheaper on the market and a bit better in the glass! This bottle: 18/20. 17: Gently matured, still quite garnet in the middle, with a fine brick-red shimmer on the rim. The bouquet is open, accessible and exudes great warmth, not raisiny, but showing highly ripe berries in an almost compote-like form. On the second pass, Dominican tobacco. An intoxicating and still delicate bouquet that radiates great nobility. I smelled it for about 10 minutes before taking the first sip. On the palate, lots of substance, creamy, homogeneous and showing an incredible, elevated nonchalance, the finish is focused and endless. It seems slightly slimmer than before and has compensated for this with a heady elegance. This was my best bottle of this wine so far. The 20/20 were within reach. (19/20). 18: By now, the price is more exciting than the wine itself. Yet it is still a truly great Margaux. Of a somewhat schizophrenic nature. The Merlots seem to be raisining, while the Cabernet proportion in the wine still feels rather hard. I was allowed to comment on it and people seemed to like it much more unreservedly than I did. And when you can drink such a rare wine for free, you should also be a bit restrained. (18/20). 21: Far more power than finesse. Lots of raisins, herbs and almost too many additional tannins. He makes up for the missing harmony with arrogance. Long decanting? (18/20). 22: Deep, dark purple, relatively little maturity shimmer. Brilliant bouquet, red berries, cedarwood, light tobacco, fine leather and truffle. It appears surprisingly profound and gradually reveals new aromatic facets. Concentrated extract on the tongue, very persistent and still conveying a certain astringency for further decades. Not a particularly fine Château Margaux. One that is somehow still searching for its harmony, but partly makes up for this with its character (almost). (18/20).