1982 Haut Brion Pessac Leognan

1982 Haut Brion Pessac Leognan

First thing to notice about this bottle is the fading label, except for the strongly bolded vintage imprint that does not fade. Nothing is wrong with the fading label, as I have encountered countless faded labels of aged Haut Brion, particularly in the late 70s and early 80s, so don’t be alarmed. Fabulous bouquet of elegant smoke, cigar, leather and ultra elegant oak. Why I only awarded itand not higher? I have drunk many Haut Brion vintages in the past, especially the aged ones. My most memorable one was a 1943 vintage. When Haut Brion aged, it produced one of the most stunning tastes one can ever encounter, it’s truly unique and exceedingly satisfying. This 1982, I must confess, is still in its adolescence stage, far from ready and even further from producing an aged Haut Brion flavor, although I must confess it does have all the pedigrees and quality for it to be the replica of the memorable 1943 or 1959 vintage. Also, it aged at a glacier speed as well, as the last bottle I had was in 2014, but I felt this bottle was almost the same as the 2014 bottle I had. So I suspect it’ll need another 40 years to reach it’s peak (pardon me, in my opinion even 1959 was not ready to drink!)

Supremely drinkable
Haut Brion 1982 is extremely impressive! The moment I had a sip, I was already head over heels over this wine. That unforgettable moment happened during the Top Bordeaux 1982 dinner invited by Christie!
The nose of Haut Brion is always very seductive, regardless of vintage. It started off with very faint smoke, and then slowly evolving, later it has intense smoky nose. The palate is pleasant, balanced, luscious, easy and most importantly, beautifully made
I was wrong! I had numerous bottles of this wine in the past, never impressed me and I thought Haut Brion 1982 was no big deal, until I had tonight’s bottle.
Its simply awesome, I will tag an almost perfect score of 99 to this wine tonight. I don’t know what it is, but I shouldn’t have ruled out Haut Brion 82 in the past. Now it is back on my radar! PERFECT!