TN: 1982s with Dinner

First wine while sitting around nibbling and chatting was:

Bruno Gobillard Champagne Brut (nv) - good mouse, a faintly citric nose with some apple notes, smooth and bracing. Very decent showing

2010 Petterino Gattinara - showing a Burgundian colour and a hint of Burgundian funkiness in the nose initially, medium bodied and smooth with good clean acidity that worked well against the nibbles.

With an excellent main course that featured nice fat little lamb chops:

1982 Château Phélan Ségur - from my cellar where it had lain since it was issued (I bought fairly heavily in this vintage after tasting a few of them). Deep colour, especially in comparison with the nebbiolo, and very nice black fruit nose with a hint of nutmeg and cedar, marred only by just a hint of TCA at the beginning (the fruit level was still fine, though). It drank quite well with a lengthy smooth finish.

1982 Château Gloria - slightly lighter garnet colour and a nose of woodsy notes mixed with cherry fruit and spice (nutmeg?). Smooth medium length finish.

I intend to repeat this sort of relaxed tasting with some 1975 clarets - though some are still stubbornly reluctant to open without extensive airing.

1982 Gloria was my epiphany wine, but haven't had in a while. Thanks

I'd say that the 82 that put me on the Bordeaux trail was the La Lagune.

At that age, the wines can vary in quality dependent on storage conditions, but I've been careful and kept them cool even what I had a passive cellar.

I think that '82 Phelan-Segur and La Lagune were among the first Bordeaux we ever tried as well. Sad to say, we weren't equipped (either logistically or financially) to put any away for long-term aging back then.

Another vintage that I was able to buy a bit later was an unusual one - 1975. Big hard wines in many cases, that needed decades to develop enough to properly enjoy. I'm still trying to decide when to open them - in most cases I just have singletons left The La Mission and Las Cases will doubtless outlive us all.

Another vintage that I was able to buy a bit later was an unusual one - 1975. Big hard wines in many cases, that needed decades to develop enough to properly enjoy. I'm still trying to decide when to open them - in most cases I just have singletons left The La Mission and Las Cases will doubtless outlive us all.

Yeah, I remember the hoopla about the '75s when they were released (that was about the time. that I started reading Anthony Dias Blue's columns in the SF Chronicle). I think the excitement stemmed in part from a pretty lean number of years leading up to it. I think the most recent vintage to compare with it was '86: sternly tannic with enough acidity to make for long aging. '75 was a bit more green, though, at least at some addresses, and the tannins never really softened at some others. I have no doubt that the '75 La Miss will be damn near immortal.

I always liked the 1975 Pomerols and some Graves, never thought the Medoc wines would outlive the tannin. But in last decade have had several enjoyable 75 Medocs, even some I'd call elegant!
A tasting we did early this year
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=70251&p=528010&hilit=1975+leoville#p528010

Between 1970 and 1975 was a desert of poor vintages, so when 75 came along and was at least decent, it was touted by the writers.
It was a decent vintage for those with patience but is now getting a bit spotty. I'm not sorry that I only have a handful left but intend to drink those within the next couple of years.

Between 1970 and 1975 was a desert of poor vintages

And it was even worse for Sauternes and Barsac. Their poor vintage string didn't break until 1980.

-Paul W.

I thought 1975 is a really strong Sauternes/Barsac vintage. To me the top Sauternes vintages of my lifetime are 1967, 1975, 1983, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2001. (The great '59s just predate me, and I haven't tasted much from this century)