Ducru Beaucaillou 1982 (750ML)

97 JD / 97 WA / 96 RP / 95 DE / 17.5 JR

The finest bottle I’ve had of this wine (which came from the estate), the 1982 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou continues to drink brilliantly and is a magical Saint-Julien. Still healthy ruby hued with a mature yet insanely complex bouquet of sweet red and black fruits, cedary herbs, graphite, tobacco, and forest floor, it’s powerful yet seamless on the palate, with resolved tannins, no hard edges, and a fabulous finish. This is mature Bordeaux in all its glory. Drink bottles any time over the coming two decades. Tasted in 2020. - Jeb Dunnuck

"The harvest lasted 16 days from the 16th September," proprietor Bruno Borie mentioned about the 1982 Ducru-Beaucaillou. Medium brick colored, it comes galloping out of the glass with bold, expressive notes of Black Forest cake, preserved plums and mincemeat pie with hints of cigar box, star anise, eucalyptus and espresso plus wafts of roasted nuts and iron ore. Medium to full-bodied, generous and opulent, the palate has beautifully ripe, fine-grained tannins and tons of youthful fruit, finishing with epically long-lasting layers of preserved black fruits and exotic spices.  Tasted in 2020 - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Advocate

One of the all-time great Ducrus, probably matched or eclipsed by several recent vintages (i.e., 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2008). The 1982 is still 5-8 years away from full maturity, but it exhibits a dense ruby/plum/garnet color to the rim as well as a sweet perfume of forest floor, spice box, cedar, and copious quantities of black fruits. Medium to full-bodied and beautifully pure with sweet tannins, this wine has aged more slowly than I initially expected. It is the finest Ducru Beaucaillou produced after the 1961 and before the 2003. - Robert Parker

A gorgeous nose, really quite perfumed and fragrant with jasmine and strawberry aromas. Full and thrilling on the palate, I love the style and sense of life - this has muscles and sinewy tannins, thick almost in terms of texture. So assured, racy, bright and vibrant with high acidity giving the tang. Sour cherries, vanilla, cola, baked pies and salty stones that linger on the finish. Certainly the most charged of the tasting up to this point - a marked increase in flesh and brute power. Firm, solid and still with a lot of life to go. Tasted in 2023. - GH, Decanter

Sweet, liquorice nose and rather attractively pungent on the finish. Still a very good wine with such fruit intensity that I initially took it for a right bank wine. (It was served blind.) - Jancis Robinson