Latour 1982

Pauillac, First Growth

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Tasting Notes

Not especially dark. Bright mid red with some definite evolution at the rim. Fairly light nose at first. Very fragrant and even charming for a Latour! Very subtle and intriguing on the nose. Great depth and savour. This wine gets better and better towards the end of the tasting experience. It really fans out on the finish. Still some quite noticeable tannin on the very end. Still quite firm though it should be fine with food - but I'd expect it to outlast all 1982s with the possible exception of the Las Cases - if the latter ever comes round.

Score: 19

Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com Maturity: 2000-2030 25 November 2010

Always somewhat atypical (which I suspect will be the case with the more modern day 2003), the 1982 Latour has been the most opulent, flamboyant, and precocious of the northern Medocs, especially the St.-Juliens, Pauillacs, and St.-Estephes. It hasn’t changed much over the last 10-15 years, revealing sweet tannins as well as extraordinarily decadent, even extravagant levels of fruit, glycerin, and body. It is an amazing wine, and on several occasions, I have actually picked it as a right bank Pomerol because of the lushness and succulence of the cedary, blackberry, black currant fruit. This vintage has always tasted great, even in its youth, and revealed a precociousness that one does not associate with this Chateau. However, the 1982 is still evolving at a glacial pace. The concentration remains remarkable, and the wine is a full-bodied, exuberant, rich, classic Pauillac in its aromatic and flavor profiles. It’s just juiced up (similar to an athlete on steroids) and is all the better for it. This remarkable effort will last as long as the 1982 Mouton, but it has always been more approachable and decadently fruity. Drink it now, in 20 years, and in 50 years! Don’t miss it if you are a wine lover. Release price: ($350.00/case)

Score: 100

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2009-2059 01 June 2009

As I indicated in the review of the 1982 Bordeaux, this is an unusual Latour in the fact that it has always been precocious. It has been jammy, forward, and delicious no matter when the cork was pulled, in total contrast to its two first-growth siblings, Mouton Rothschild and Lafite-Rothschild. The dense, opaque garnet-colored 1982 Latour reveals slight amber at the edge. Sweet, smoky, roasted aromas in the nose combine with jammy levels of black currant, cherry, and prune-like fruit. It possesses extraordinary concentration and unctuosity, with a thick, fat texture oozing notes of cedar wood, tobacco, coffee, and over-ripe fruit. Low acidity as well as high alcohol (for Bordeaux) give the wine even more glycerin and textural chewiness. The finish lasts forever. The only Latour that remotely resembles the 1982 is the 1961, which has a similar texture and succulence.

Score: 100

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2000-2040 30 June 2000

Dark red, with an amber rim. Liqueur-like aromas of plum, roasted meat, mocha, tobacco, truffle and burnished oak. Fat, lush and smooth, with explosive fruit and powerful underlying backbone. Massive but not at all heavy. Wonderfully tactile wine, finishing with big, chewy-but-ripe tannins and great persistence. (My second bottle showed even more class and delineation, and rated 98.) Drink during your lifetime.

Score: 97

Stephen Tanzer, International Wine Cellar 01 July 2002

Big and chewy. Full-bodied, with velvety tannins and a long, long currant, berry and cherry character. Underrated. Still more to come in this wine.--Bordeaux retrospective. Drink now.

Score: 98

James Suckling, Wine Spectator 30 June 2001