1982 Château Gruaud Larose St. Julien Bordeaux France Wine Tasting Note

From a magnum, this was gorgeous in every way. Earthy, meaty, black and red currants, herbs, smoke, tobacco leaf, cedar, and cigar box notes were all over the place. Full-bodied, packed, and just a bit rustic around the edges, this is classic Bordeaux at its best. This is one of the top wines of the vintage. Drink from 2022-2035.

5,074 Views   Tasted Jul 16, 2022

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In serious competition for one of the best bottles of 82 Gruaud Larose I have ever had, this is a beauty. Clean on the nose, with its blend of cedar, tobacco leaf, cigar box, smoke, cassis, wet earth and leafy green herbs with a generous blast of red fruits, the wine wants to get noticed. Still looking and feeling young for its age, the wine is full-bodied, rich, powerful and wildly regal. The finish fills your mouth with layers of sweet, ripe earthy red fruits, wet earth and tobacco. This is really in the zone, and while not inexpensive, for a 1982 Bordeaux at this level, it is a deal!

This is one of the most consistent wines of the vintage, the vast majority of times I've tasted this wine, it has been stunning. And this bottle was no exception! The wine is deep, concentrated and packed with ripe, powerful fruit and all the cigars you can smoke for a year. Dense, long and with the potential to age for decades, while not inexpensive, to taste a sublime Bordeaux of this quality and age, it is worth the bank.

Remarkably consistent, the wine packs a lot of character into every sniff, sip and swallow. Full bodied, deep, long and concentrated, there is so much character and complexity going on here, it's hard not to fill your glass a second time.

Full bodied, dense and offering a barnyard, animalistic, cigar box, tobacco and cherry nose, it’s special as soon as it hits your glass. Big, powerful, dense, yet refined and regal, this really makes an impression that sticks on your palate and memory. The wine improves in the glass. As evidenced by this note, this is a very good wine, but I’ve tasted even better bottles over the years.

The first 20 minutes in the glass reminded my nose of what it would be liked to be trapped in a filthy barn, with sweaty horses and a cow or two. But within 30 minutes that cleared up and cedar, tobacco, cassis, forest floor and blackberry notes were all over the place. Full bodied, mouth filling, rich and fresh, with ripe tannins and length, I loved every sip.

The old adage about no great wines, just great bottles came true for this one... A good bottle, but not great. Still, the earthy, cassis, cedar, cigar box and barnyard scents were evident. The palate was more rustic than usual, with its sweet and tart, cassis character. Oh well, fortunately, there is always another bottle.

Wow! The finish remains for close to 60 seconds showing off all its earthy, dense, chewy, intensity. The wealth of fruit is rustic in all the right ways and places. Young, yet delivering more than enough of its best qualities, you can drink now, or wait a decade or two. Has Gruaud Larose even made a better wine than they did in 1982?

I am never bored drinking this beauty. With its soft ripe tannins, tobacco, cassis, black cherry, mint and cigar box nose, long, lingering finish and layers of complexity that keep you looking for more, and finiding it too, this is a winner.

If there is a better high quality 1982 Bordeaux for less money, buy it. Take it from me, you can look as much as you like, but you are not going to find an other wine at this price and quality from 1982. This stellar wine serves up so much ripe fruit, with great character, length and style, if you do not know the wine, you need to taste it.

Smoke and tobacco, green peppercorn, forest floor and cassis create the aromatic profile. Powerful, concentrated and packed with flavor, the long, expressive finish delivers a mineral driven, fresh cassis filled personality.

I cannot think of a more consistent, better wine to show someone why 1982 is considered a great vintage. Time and time again, this stunning wine screams with its powerful aromatics coupled with its intensely concentrated layers of fruit. Drink this today, or age it 30 more years and for your kids. For the money, there is no better 1982 to buy than this wine!

WOW! If I could post a one word tasting note, perhaps wow would say it all. But there is a lot more to the wine that. Deep, powerful, intense and filled with multiple layers of perfectly ripe, silky textured berries, the finish must last close to 50 seconds! Still young, you can enjoy this thrilling wine today, or age it for another 20-30 or more years. In a blind tasting of 1982 Bordeaux, this could surely be placed next to any of the more exalted and expensive names and depending on the bottle, could come out on top.

Serious Bordeaux lovers, with extra income cannot own enough of this stunning gem! I taste them several times a year and it is never disappointing. Packed with earth, barnyard, cigar wrapper, ash, blackberry and cedar wood, the wine keeps getting better year after year. If the purpose of tasting notes is to let others know which wines to buy as well as avoid, 1982 Gruaud Larose is the 1982 to buy.

This is the Left Bank wine to buy. In fact, it's the vintage of Gruaud Larose to buy as well! It continues to improve with every passing year. It has everything you could ask for in a Bordeaux wine. It’s packed with truffles, cigar box, smoke, leather, gravel, cassis, black cherry and forest floor scents. Everything is in perfect balance with the perfect amount of ripe fruit, tannin and acidity that is only made better by the intense, expansive, long, mouth filling finish.

With attention grabbing aromatics filled with smoke, truffle, tobacco, cassis, cedar chest and wet earth, the wine gets you going. Full bodied, powerful and filled with layers of concentrated, ripe, juicy Cabernet Sauvignon, the wine finishes with lush, black cherries.

1982 Gruaud Larose should be the 61 in the making. This wine was great ten years ago and today, it's better than ever! Powerful spice, truffle, cassis, floral, black cherry, tobacco and cassis aromas wake up your senses. On the palate, this dense, concentrated wine is fresh, round and mouth filling. The long finish ends with spicy, plummy cassis. Still young, this is a serious wine and a contender for the finest wine ever produced from Gruaud Larose. 98 Pts

This boom, when the wine hit the glass. Aromatic fireworks filled with forest, blackberry, plum, coffee, cassis, earth and toffee notes. Big, dense, very concentrated with ripe fruit. Lots of structure. Still tanninc, needs time.

This, black fruit and barnyard scented wine stands up shouting and demanding to be noticed. Massive layers of concentrated fruit. Masculine in style. Beefy, big and broad shouldered. What it lacks in elegance and finesse is makes up for personality. If wines were dogs, this would be a Newfoundland. Close to mature, but with a long life ahead. I’m willing to bet this wine continues evolving for at least another 20-30 more years if well stored.

Deep, dark, ruby tinted, with a serious perfume of cassis, barnyard funk and wet forest notes. This completely coats your palate. Very dense, full bodied with an intense finish that lasts close to 60 seconds. First growth quality with decades of life remaining.

Smokey, burnt wood, cassis, barn yard and licorice tones were easily discerned. It’s packed and stacked with large doses of ripe, juicy Cabernet fruit. Very thick, dense and concentrated. Needs time to soften and come together.