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Château Margaux 1982

Château Margaux, Bordeaux, France

Château Margaux
Bordeaux France
  • 98
    Points
  • The 460 best
    of 3 290 954
    wines globally
  • 41 Pros of
    41 recommend
    this wine
969 98
  • Taste
  • Moment

  • Country ranking ?

    386

  • Producer ranking ?

    17

  • Decanting time

    3h

  • When to drink

    now to 2050

  • Food Pairing

    hearty Mediterranean food

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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Elegant, and refined, the wine kicks off with a blend of violets, tobacco, red and black currants and cedar. Texturally, this is simply gorgeous with its multiple layers of sweet, ripe, silky fruits. Drink from 2023-2035." - 97/100, Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider

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The Story

Since the 17th Century, the first wine of Château Margaux has been recognised as being one of the greatest wines in the entire world. It owes its unique qualities to the genius of its terroir as well as to the passionate work of a succession of generations. It’s a remarkable wine that comes from a combination of characteristics that are only rarely found: finesse, elegance, complexity, density, intensity, length and freshness. Although its tan...

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Wine Information

This 1982 vintage heralded a new era of perhaps unprecedented prosperity for Bordeaux, thanks to a run of extraordinary vintages and the opening up of international markets, the first of which was the United States, together with the Japanese market which was of no small importance. To find a previous vintage of comparable quality, we have to go back to 1961. The 1982 vintage can therefore be considered as the first representative of a new gen...

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Vintage 1982

The 1982 vintage in Bordeaux changed the wine world as well as changed my life. It was the first vintage I tasted from barrel as a young wine writer working for the American magazine The Wine Spectator, and I was amazed how gorgeous the quality of a young red could be from barrel.

I remember the first barrel samples I tasted during the summer of 1983 at Chateau Prieure-Lichine with the late wine author and vintner Alexis Lichine. The wines ...

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Average Bottle Price

2024 2020 2015 2010 2005 2000 1995
1 160€ +27.5% 910€ +2.2% 890€ +58.9% 560€ +73.9% 322€ +52.6% 211€ +137.1% 89€

This data comes from the FINE Auction Index, a composite of average prices for wines sold at commercial auctions in 20 countries. The average prices from each year have been collected since 1990. This chart plots the index value of the average price of the wines.

Latest Pro-tasting notes

60 tasting notes

Tasting note

color

Full, Ruby red and Healthy

ending

Long, Pure and Lingering

flavors

Blackcurrant, Cigar-box, Toasty, Perfumed, Coffee and Smoky

nose

Intense, Complex, Seductive and Refined

recommend

Yes

taste

Average in Acidity, Medium tannin, Balanced, Complex, Good texture, Developing, Medium-bodied, Sharp, Elegant, Focused, Harmonious, Dry and Silky tannins

Verdict

Intelligent and Fine

Written Notes

We transitioned to the remaining four First Growths in the next flight, beginning with a phenomenal bottle of 1982 Margaux (sourced from Chateau). The Margaux had a pungent nose, and its t ‘n a jumped out at first. It also had cinnamon, iron, rock and gorgeous perfume. It was ‘beyond licorice’ according to Dan, and Australian John admired its ‘cherry liqueur.’ The palate was rocky without the horror but with the picture show, ‘not its usual feminine self,’ Ray observed. Though spiny and long, the Margaux was still stylish with a touch of that Maraux elegance. This was a great bottle of this wine, and it ended up being wine of the flight
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  • 97p
Fine-looking magnum. Decanted for two hours. We were very impressed when we first tasted this wine almost 15 years ago. Since then we have been just as impressed every time we have tasted it. This, the most recent magnum tasted, makes us feel even more impressed, for the wine is truly hitting its peak now. Every bit as full-bodied and vigorous as we recall from earlier tastings. Well-balanced and full of meaning. Still remarkably young and intense, displaying the depth and extract of this fine vintage and this eminent property. A solid wine with generous flavours of black fruits, coffee, cedar wood, and cigar leaf. A long, bit sweet and elegant finish that goes on and on alluring the palate. A reliable choice.
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  • 97p

Château Margaux 1982 is a very powerful, fleshy and complex wine. The bouquet is already outstandingly rich and dense. The impression on the palate is at once of great power, roundness and suppleness. Such a balance is rare. Undoubtedly, a very long-ageing wine, but which already possesses a lot of charm. We can start drinking it now, but there is really no hurry...

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Well-coloured garnet. Initial nose is still surprisingly oaky and youthful. Under that sweet spice, there’s a touch of leather and dried herbs but the sweetness persists. So silky and plenty of bright expressive sweet red fruit with a delicate leathery overlay. Very very long, and its the fruit that persists not the tannin. Spreads across the palate and extends way back like water filling every nook and cranny. (JH)

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  • 95p

Ruby. Blueberries, some cassis, anise, some spices, minerals, detailed, nuanced, floral, bright and exotic nose. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, fruity, dark berries, nuanced, detailed, layered, spices, juicy, long. 99

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  • 99p

This bottle was a beauty. Silky in texture, with a floral, dark cherry, truffle and tobacco nose, the wine was concentrated, long and fresh. The finish felt as good as it tasted, with its depth, refinement and class. This is really drinking at close to peak today, where it should remain for years, if well stored.

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  • 97p

A great wine in a great vintage. Dark garnet red colour. Excellent nose with hints of mild spices, slightly balmy character, freshly grated dark chocolate, with fine Margaux fragrance of almost floral style. On the palate fine and persistent, with good tannin structure, great depth, excellent freshness although an opulent touch in the finish.

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  • 99p

I anxiously awaited the Margaux; it’s one of my favorites due to the big perfumed nose and typical elegance on the palate. Once again, the nose seemed to have faded due to being opened for quite a while; but the traditional elements were definitely there – cedar, tobacco and spice with flowery notes – just a little less potent than normal. On the palate, it shows nice black cherry fruit with berry undertones, lots of earthy elements, tobacco and some minerality. The laid back elegance was there, but the wine ran a little flat into the finish and lacked a bit of oomph. Very good, not great… perhaps a little less than expected, but still a fantastic wine. Parker most recently gave it a 98; I’ll go with a 92.

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  • 92p
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Information

Origin

Margaux, Bordeaux

Vintage Quality

Outstanding

Value For Money

Satisfactory

Investment potential

Very Good

Inside Information

Bordeaux Book, 4th Edition 
Jan 2003		 Robert M. Parker, Jr. 98+ Drink: 2003 - 2035 $424-$2431
At one time I thought the 1983 was the more classic and better effort from Chateau Margaux, but I am human, and the 1982 has overtaken the 1983, and is obviously the superior effort. It started off life as a somewhat ruggedly constructed, powerful, masculine, even coarse style of Chateau Margaux with high levels of tannin, huge extract, and richness. Increasingly civilized, with the tannin becoming seamlessly integrated, this opaque purple/garnet-colored wine offers up hints of incense, sweet truffles, smoke, black currants, flowers, and damp earth. Very full-bodied, with remarkable levels of glycerin, extract, and tannin, this is probably the largest-scaled, most concentrated Chateau Margaux under the Mentzelopoulos administration. It is doubtful it will ever rival the 1990.996, or 2000 for pure finesse or elegance, and in spite of its high levels of tannin, does not seem to have the classicism of these vintages, but this wine goes from strength to strength and is quickly becoming one of the all-time compelling efforts of Chateau Margaux. Anticipated maturity: Now-2035. Last tasted, 12/02.
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