Cheval Blanc 1982 (750ML)

100 WI / 99 WA / 97 JS / 19 JR

The 1982 Chevel Blanc has a medium garnet-brick color and springs from the glass with scents of kirsch, dried cranberries, and pencil shavings, leading to hints of rose oil, rare steak, and crushed rocks. The medium-bodied palate is packed with mature red fruit and earthy layers, textured with satiny tannins and delivering seamless acidity, finishing on a long-lingering mocha note. Still very youthful, this was clearly a very good bottle, coming directly from the Chateau. The yields in 1982 for Cheval Blanc were a whopping 55 hl/ha, according to Pierre Lurton.-Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Independent

The 1982 Cheval Blanc is a sumptuous, sensual wine, bursting with aromas of sweet raspberries, orange rind, dried flowers, cedar box, black truffles, vine smoke and menthol. Medium to full-bodied, ample and enveloping, it's supple and seamless, with a fleshy mid-palate, melting tannins and a long, expansive finish. As is often the case at this address, at age 40, it's the wine's Cabernet Franc component that really dominates its personality, meaning that it gratifies the intellect as completely as it does the senses. I've drunk the 1982 Cheval three times this year, and it has been remarkably consistently brilliant.--Tasted Dec / 2022. --William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

This stuck out in the blind tasting as the odd bottle out due to the high percentage of Cabernet Franc in the blend. It was more like Burgundy on the nose with sliced plums, strawberries and peaches that turn to tropical fruits and chocolate and flowers. It's full-bodied with a very round texture and velvety tannins. This is so approachable and enticing. Soft and voluptuous wine. Don't wait.-James Suckling

It was a particular pleasure to taste this as there had been a very disappointing bottle at the tasting of 1982 first growths I reported on last year and the bottle of Cheval 1982 at Bipin Desai's great Los Angeles tasting had not been stupendous. This particular bottle looked very slightly older than the 1983, as one would expect, and was extremely intense and very, very dense in a thoroughly meaty sort of way. Clearly this is a wine of amazing concentration and ripeness though it still needs time. It recalls the 2000 more than any other vintage being just so massive as to mask subtle flavours for the moment. The acidity is definitely discernible and the tannins are quite furry. There are some lovely, appetising high notes and this is an extraordinarily youthful 20-year-old. The most obvious tasting note for the moment is B-I-G.-Jancis Robinson