Today, 1982 Bordeaux is considered one of the greatest vintages in modern wine history. But before that legendary year, Bordeaux was struggling.
In the 1970s the region faced weak vintages, unsold wine, fraud scandals, and growing skepticism from buyers. Even prestigious châteaux were under financial pressure. The reputation of Bordeaux was no longer untouchable.
Then came the vintage that changed everything.
In 1982, warm weather produced rich, ripe wines across the region. While many traditional critics were cautious, an independent American critic—Robert M. Parker Jr.—boldly declared the wines extraordinary and encouraged buyers to purchase heavily. His enthusiasm proved prophetic. Demand surged, prices reset, and Parker himself rose to global influence as the most powerful voice in wine criticism.
In this episode of Our Pour Decisions, we explore the turning point vintage that reshaped Bordeaux and the modern wine market. To see if the legend still holds, we open six bottles from the 1982 vintage and taste them more than four decades later.
Wines Featured-
Château La Mission Haut-Brion
Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
Château Gruaud-Larose
Château Montrose
Château Talbot
Château Gloria
We start with two 100-point legends and work our way down the price ladder to see if value still exists in a historic vintage.
Join us as we taste, debate, and explore the vintage that helped transform Bordeaux forever.
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0:00 Intro
1:25 Bordeaux in the 70’s
2:45 The Legends
10:43 Robert Parker
12:49 The Contenders
22:00 The Values
25:35 Closing Thoughts
8 Comments
Welcome back- missed your segments!!
just notices a change in glassware "winged style" – would love to see a segment on glasses
Next level production! Well done loved it and learned a lot. Cheers from The Netherlands, Donald.
Great show .
Love your content! This was so interesting, fun and informative.
Still drinking Latour and Mouton bought on futures <400.00$ a case. We always bought LaMission because it was GREAT but much less expensive. My mentor stopped buying Lafite when it cost more than ten dollars and started buying Cos d'Estournel. The point you didn't address is all my 82's were bought on futures, and stored in perfect conditions and never moved! MAKES ALL THE DIFFERANCE. When your buying at this stage PROVIDENCE is everything personally I don't see the point of not addressing it. Most Cordier wines were chaptalized in the 60's thru 80's. Montrose like many California wines also use sugar it is not illegal. Chasing trophy wines you just need money. Finding classic well made wine takes effort, learning names does not. TO YOUR POINT I MAKE THE MONEY SHE DOES NOT SEEMS A BIT SHORT SIGHTED.
I have about a dozen '82s including First Growths from Margaux, Mouton-Rothschild and Haut-Brion. Still not ready to open them, not because I don't think they're ready, but because I don't think I'm ready. And did you say Gruade-Larose is $500 these days? You are either grossly mistaken or someone is ripping you off blindly.
How did these taste side by side while having dinner? Was it easier to taste the difference tasting the value vs the highesr price? Did they change with food?