1982 Château La Mission Haut-Brion

Full of signature La Mission silk and finesse, with a step towards the rich tertiary flavours of black truffle, tobacco leaf, incense and smoked earth. Seams of crushed raspberry fruits abound, with the turmeric and cumin spices of a warm vintage, just baked over campfire smoke. In this vertical it was tasted alongside the 1961 and 1989, and sits just a touch below them, just not quite delivering the fireworks of those other two exceptional vintages, but it's still a wonderful example of how 1982 continues to deliver. The last full year under the Woltner family, before they sold in November 1983.

One of the great wines of the vintage, and the last produced under the ownership of the Woltner family, the 1982 La Mission Haut-Brion remains remarkably youthful, exhibiting a saturated ruby-black hue. Unfurling in the glass with rich aromas of black fruits, cigar smoke, loamy soil, black truffle, peat and pencil shavings, it's full-bodied, broad and concentrated, with a deep core of fruit, ripe tannins and a long, expansive finish. Over the last decade, the wine has become increasingly seamless and elegant, without losing any of its vitality, and it is now clear, if it were ever in doubt, that this wine can stand alongside vintages such as 1961 and 1955 as one of the great La Mission Haut-Brions of the 20th century. Readers should note that the La Tour Haut-Brion of the same vintage performs at a very similar level of quality.