1982 Gruaud Larose

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 actually similar to the Talbot on the nose - unsurprisingly given their propinquity. Dark berry, rose petal, a touch of oyster shell and even a hint of eucalyptus that surfaces with time. The palate is medium-bodied with supper tannins; there is lovely balance and swagger, so pure and generous. It fans out wonderfully, vying with the Talbot for attention, but at the end of the day, they are both fabulous Saint-Juliens in a vintage when the appellation excelled. Tasted at the 1982 Dinner at Hatched.

Still remarkably youthful, my most recent bottle of the 1986 Gruaud Larose exhibited an impressively opaque hue, followed by aromas of blackcurrants, cigar ash, loamy soil, pencil shavings and subtle hints of smoked meats. Full-bodied, deep and concentrated, it's a rich but tightly wound wine, with a deep core of fruit, lively acids and an abundance of powdery structuring tannin. Incredible as it may seem, it's comparatively advanced bottles of this 1986 that are drinking best today, as pristinely stored examples with perfect corks are still almost painfully youthful. (WK)