On Apr 29, 10:33�pm, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> Spurred by John Taverner's note today, and by the happy coincidence of
> our celebrating our 18th wedding anniversary today, we opened a bottle
> of the '82 Gruaud-Larose with a dinner of broiled rack of lamb with
> fingerling potatoes. *As I mentioned in John's thread, the provenance of
> this bottle was as iffy as it gets in our household: Jean had given it
> to me for my 27th birthday in 1986, and it had sat in my apartment on
> Manhattan for 2 years before traveling West to Berkeley in a rented
> truck, sitting in our crawlspace in Berkeley for 18 months, before being
> flown to Indiana, where it has slumbered since.
>
> 1982 Ch. Gruaud-Larose
> color: ruby red with a light hint of brick at the edges
> nose: initially, the "Cordier funk", later giving way to pencil lead,
> berry fruit, and herbs
> palate: medium body, meaty, herbal, minerals, pencil lead, solid core of
> fruit, good balanced acidity and a rich finish
>
> As John T. mentioned, the tannins in this wine are gone: it is as smooth
> and supple as one could hope. *Also noteworthy, though, in this era of
> blockbuster claret, is the incredible sense of balance that this wine
> displays: it is big but graceful. *It went splendidly with the simple
> lamb preparation and didn't change noticeably over the course of a 1 1/2
> hour dinner. *IMO, no hurry to drink this up, but I also don't see it
> getting any better. *OTOH, if your G-L has been stored at a constant 50
> F/10 C since purchase, YMMV.
>
> Mark Lipton
> --
> alt.food.wine FAQ: *http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

I meant to reply to John's note yesterday. The bottle I had 2 years
ago was very nice but I thought could improve (it was decanted several
hours before dinner, got better through meal). I think John Belden who
brought it does have quite cold storage. Of course, both bottles and
tastes have lots of room for variance!