Château Lafite-Rothschild 1982

Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider

Tom Cannavan

Similar colour, but has retained more depth at core. Rather more closed on the nose. There is a deep seam of black plum and liquorice with some nuances of minerals and earth, but this is deep, dense and savoury. The palate is wonderfully concentrated and sonorous; it seems to extend in a column of dense black fruit. The core is plummy and rich, with notes of bramble and earth, but then a creamy layer of blackcurrant adds to a fleshy mid-palate. The purity of fruit here really pushes through to the finish. Great length and probably a few years off its peak. Should go on for decades.

Falstaff

Robert Parker Wine Advocate

This is a denser version of the 1990 that stylistically reminds me of what the young 1959 probably tasted like. Still backward with a deep ruby/plum color revealing only a touch of lightening at the edge, the wine offers up an extraordinary nose of caramelized herbs, smoke, cedar, pen ink, black currants, and earth. The gorgeous aromatics are followed by a full-bodied, plump, rich, fleshy wine with low acidity. With 6-8 hours decanting in a closed decanter, it will offer beautiful drinking, but it needs another 5-8 years to reach full maturity. It is capable of lasting 50-60 years. This classic Lafite is not as fat and concentrated as the 1982 Latour, nor as complex or concentrated as the 1982 Mouton Rothschild, but it is a winner all the same.