It is always a banner day when a First Growth makes its way into the tasting room, regardless of the circumstances. We all had high hopes with the large 3L bottle in pristine condition and even wrapped in plastic to preserve the label. And it was a 1982! This is THE notorious vintage in Bordeaux - the vintage that established Robert Parker as he went against the established wine press of the day and lavished high praise and handed out multiple 100 points scores.
The 1982 Haut Brion scored a lowly 95 points, so unfortunately, Haut Brion was not in the upper echelon of greatness in this vintage - when you (read: score whores) consider the cream of the crop to be 98-100 points...and I hope you read my sarcasm here. Any 95 pointer from a good year should be holding up well with good storage, so 1982 left me and my cohorts excited to consider what was in the bottle.
The good news was there was enough to go around...usually with a First Growth tasting you have to be quick or you will be left trying to coax a splash out of the sediment. The bad news was that this wine just had too much going against it to have a good showing on this day. Whether it was the loose cork over the years or the hours of contact the cork had with the wine from falling in the drink, this wine was over for me from the first sniff. Very advanced or what I like to call 'over the hill' with a decidedly medicinal component through and through. It was ruined. (And even worse the next day for those who saved a half glass on their desk, precariously covered with a piece of paper)
As the eternal optimist I am, I wouldn't say it was a "bad" tasting. Every First Growth that comes my way is a learning experience. An awesome, exciting glimpse into the bigger picture that is my ever evolving context of discovering what world class wine is. I can't wait for the next one.
1982 Chateau Haut Brion - from 3L
:-(
Flawed - cork had fallen in - no tasting note
Rating: Sad Face