Solihull Fine Wine Society, December meeting.

!982 Claret Part Two
12 wines all blind as usual, it was a long and hard tasting.
I have tried to add the Live-ex value for the wines when appropriate. GBP

Two little simple wines to start, found at the bottom of JR's cellar.

Flight one
Ch Montdespic Cote de Castitilion.
Mature look, some leather and cedar, soft spice and a little fruit, all
tannins gone, actually improved in the glass over half an hour till it died.

Ch d'Barbes Cotes de Bourg.
Brown edge, a nose of gunpowder and cassis, died almost immediately, dead on
palate.

Flight two
Ch La Tour de Mons, Margaux
Brown edge , stewed mean nose, bitter and dead.

Ch d'Angludet, Margaux
Bright viscous, hint of brown, a youthful nose farmyard spice cassis,
wonderful. Soft entry, very full balance, spice and so long. This wine is
stunning for its age and lowly status. One would never guess at its age, my
2nd WOTN
£40.

Flight three
Ch Lascombes Margaux
Quite mature looking, a complex nose of tobacco, earthy cedar, heat. Soft
marshmallow entrance, toffee and some trace of spice. Very nice £45

Ch Palmer Margaux
Deepest so far, viscosity, hint of age. A strange "steely" fishy nose that
blew off and it opened up to reveal some old leather and cedar. Soft fruit
but tannins gone, long but I wrote "OKish" £120
Confirms tha 82 Palmer not up to scratch and overshadowed by the 83

Flight four on its own
Ch L'Eglise Clinet Pomerol
Portlike, no age. A many layered nose of chocolate, leather and fruit.
Complexity on the palate chewy sweet layers of fruit, tannins soft.
Splendid. A ball breaker of a wine, a man's wine. Plenty of life ahead. £85

Flight five
Ch Gruaud Larose St Julien
Huge depth and viscosity, hint of age, Farmyard bliss, so complex, spice and
cedar. A huge mouthful of sheer excellence, all in balance, fruit, unctuous,
soft tannin and still some acidity to balance. Magnificent. My WOTN and I
have two bottles left!
£200

Ch Leoville Poyferre St Julien
Extract, hint of brown, bright, old library nose, leather armchairs but hint
of VA, which did blow off, then " oh dear", a mix of tannin and acidity,
where is the fruit....optimists opined that it was too young..ha bloody ha
says I, £120

Flight six
Ch Leoville Barton St Julien
A portlike youthful appearance, very dumb stalky, seaweed salty nose, some
old leather and some blackcurrant., a fat entrance and then nowt, acidic,
short.....?bottle£90

Ch Cos d'Estournel St Estephe.
Like the G-Larose, depth++, wonderful colour, no age, a strange stewed
organic nose, alcohol, I thought stewed prunes, a mega mouthfulSoft spice,
fruit big tannins, understated. Most spotted the big bruiser, but we all
wondered whether there was a hint of oxidisation.£250

On its own
Ch Margaux, Margaux, huge, no age, a little dull perhaps, an out of this
world organic perfumed minted nose, improves over time to show cedar and
floral hints. Wonderful entry, a real mouthful, all in balance, stacks of
fruit and so long. A star but we argued whether its worth £ 998 ( $2000)
retail. My 3rd WOTN

A slightly disappointing tasting. But it showed the value of having a wine
club. These we put down in the mid 80's and have sat on some of them. We
could not afford to put on such a arrange of stars.

So from the two tastings my stars are, and relationship to cost.
From the bottom
Ch Pibran
Ch d'Angludet
Ch Gruad Larose

and last but not least Pichon Lalande... a lifetime wine

John T














--
John T

Thanks for the notes, John. What a great lineup of wines. I recently
opened our only bottle of the '82 G-L with similar results to what you
report: what a great wine. I haven't had the '82 Palmer or Margaux, but
have the '83s of both and don't feel at all bad about that ;-)

Mark Lipton

--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

On Dec 5, 7:08�am, "John T" wrote:
Solihull Fine Wine Society, December meeting.

!982 Claret Part Two
12 wines all blind as usual, it was a long and hard tasting.
I have tried to add the Live-ex value for the wines when appropriate. GBP

Two little simple wines to start, found at the bottom of JR's cellar.

Flight one
Ch Montdespic Cote de Castitilion.
Mature look, some leather and cedar, soft spice and a little fruit, all
tannins gone, actually improved in the glass over half an hour till it died.

Ch d'Barbes Cotes de Bourg.
Brown edge, a nose of gunpowder and cassis, died almost immediately, dead on
palate.

Flight two
Ch La Tour de Mons, Margaux
Brown edge , stewed mean nose, bitter and dead.

Ch d'Angludet, Margaux
Bright viscous, hint of brown, a youthful nose farmyard spice cassis,
wonderful. Soft entry, very full balance, spice and so long. This wine is
stunning for its age and lowly status. One would never guess at its age, my
2nd WOTN
�40.

Flight three
Ch Lascombes Margaux
Quite mature looking, a complex nose of tobacco, earthy cedar, heat. Soft
marshmallow entrance, toffee and some trace of spice. Very nice �45

Ch Palmer Margaux
Deepest so far, viscosity, hint of age. A strange "steely" fishy nose that
blew off and it opened up to reveal some old leather and cedar. Soft fruit
but tannins gone, long but I wrote "OKish" �120
Confirms tha 82 Palmer not up to scratch and overshadowed by the 83

Flight four on its own
Ch L'Eglise Clinet Pomerol
Portlike, no age. A many layered nose of chocolate, leather and fruit.
Complexity on the palate chewy sweet layers of fruit, tannins soft.
Splendid. A ball breaker of a wine, a man's wine. Plenty of life ahead. �85

Flight five
Ch Gruaud �Larose St Julien
Huge depth and viscosity, hint of age, Farmyard bliss, so complex, spice and
cedar. A huge mouthful of sheer excellence, all in balance, fruit, unctuous,
soft tannin and still some acidity to balance. Magnificent. My WOTN and I
have two bottles left!
�200

Ch Leoville Poyferre St Julien
Extract, hint of brown, bright, old library nose, leather armchairs but hint
of VA, which did blow off, then " oh dear", a mix of tannin and acidity,
where is the fruit....optimists opined that it was too young..ha bloody ha
says I, �120

Flight six
Ch Leoville Barton St Julien
A portlike youthful appearance, very dumb stalky, seaweed salty nose, some
old leather and some blackcurrant., a fat entrance and then nowt, acidic,
short.....?bottle�90

Ch Cos d'Estournel St Estephe.
Like the G-Larose, depth++, wonderful colour, no age, a strange stewed
organic nose, alcohol, I thought stewed prunes, a mega mouthfulSoft spice,
fruit big tannins, understated. Most spotted the big bruiser, but we all
wondered whether there was a hint of oxidisation.�250

On its own
Ch Margaux, Margaux, huge, no age, a little dull perhaps, an out of this
world organic perfumed minted nose, improves over time to show cedar and
floral hints. Wonderful entry, a real mouthful, all in balance, stacks of
fruit and so long. A star but we argued whether its worth � 998 ( $2000)
retail. My 3rd WOTN

A slightly disappointing tasting. But it showed the value of having a wine
club. These we put down in the mid 80's and have sat on some of them. We
could not afford to put on such a arrange of stars.

So from the two tastings my stars are, and relationship to cost.
From the bottom
Ch Pibran
Ch d'Angludet
Ch Gruad Larose

and last but not least Pichon Lalande... a lifetime wine

John T

--
John T

Thanks for notes.
I'd say in almost every case from Margaux AC where I've tasted the '82
and '83, I preferred the latter.
I really like the '82 Gruaud. I just lost out at a charity silent
auction on 2 bottles, damn.
The Poyferre and Barton showed much better for us last year.