1982 WINE | 1982 VINTAGE GUIDE FOR FRENCH WINES

Visit 1982 vintage is a year close to your heart? Is it a birth year, a wedding year or some other symbolic year that makes you want to offer or drink a wine from this year? We're here to help you decipher this vintage and find the right wine for you. order the bottle of 1982 that best suits your needs.

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Vintage 1982 in BORDEAUX

The 1982 anecdote This is surely the vintage that launched the career of Robert ParkerA former lawyer who decided to publish his tasting notes from the 1978 vintage onwards. He was the first to rate wines out of 100. Tasting no less than 100 wines a day, he gave French wines, and especially Bordeaux, their letters of nobility. Among other critics, the remarkable Michel Bettane was one of the first to announce that the 1982 vintage would be the greatest Bordeaux vintage since 1929.

Visit 1982 vintage is an emblematic vintage for the Bordeaux vineyards. Emblematic, because very few vintages in living memory have offered a perfect, untroubled vine cycle. Spring was dry and mild, avoiding frost. Flowering was perfect, usually taking place in June, but reaching completion in superb conditions. July was very sunny, and the few rains in August added to the grape bunches. The whole summer through to the end of September was sunny, with three particularly hot weeks adding extra concentration to the grapes. All the conditions were right for a perfect harvest. What's remarkable about the 1982 vintage is the balance between perfect ripeness, grape sweetness and alcoholic potential. All with abundant volume. The health of the vines was perfect, and it was even difficult to produce a second wine, such was the quality that only great wines could be made. A dream come true!  The beauty of this vintage lies in the fact that each château has succeeded in producing a charming wine, representative of its terroir. At first, when the wines were first tasted, some critics said they were too fruity, too supple and had no ageing potential. But after ageing, the wines offered surprisingly powerful, balanced and easy-drinking juices. Pure pleasure!

If we take a closer look at the vineyards of Bordeaux, some appellations have done "even better". These are the appellations north of the Médoc. Saint-Estèphe, Pauillac, Saint-Julien as well as right bank appellations such as Pomerol and Saint-Emilion. The wines of Graves and Margaux, although of great quality, were more accessible and a little less concentrated than their counterparts, due to their light soils, which suffered from the September drought. Unfortunately, heavy rains fell at the end of the harvest, removing all the botrytis from the sweet wines and diluting them. The 1982 vintage is therefore not really a vintage to remember for sweet wines, even if some Châteaux like Yquem managed to produce complex juice, even with a lack of botrytis. Although the reds located to the north of the Médoc have evolved very slowly, they are undoubtedly at their peak, but not necessarily past it. It will be necessary to check the general condition of the bottle, as well as the level of the shoulder, to determine the bottle's drinkability.

 

Vintage 1982 in BOURGOGNE

It's a very different story for Burgundy's winegrowers, who saw all their hopes of great vintages diluted by a rainy September. However, spring in Burgundy was warm and dry, with early flowering in May. The high quality of this flowering heralded an abundant harvest. Very hot weather in June and July enabled the vines to develop well, as did an extremely hot August, heralding a large harvest and a great vintage. But then, as predicted, the rain came during the grapes' veraison (the period when the grapes gorge themselves with sugar and change color), which had the immediate effect of diluting them and swelling them with water. The harvest had already promised to be abundant, but with Mother Nature's latest whims, it became a record crop, with very large volumes. Taste-wise, it's to be expected that the quality isn't quite up to scratch. Although some estates have succeeded in extracting more concentrated juices, most of the Pinot Noir is light and uncomplicated.

Burgundy whites 1982 are faring a little better, even if this is not the case for all appellations. The Chablis vineyards paid the price for an overly abundant summer, when volume took precedence over concentration. Only the few estates that pruned their vines to produce slightly fewer grapes had a successful year. Of particular note is Domaine Raveneau, whose Chablis held up well for a few more years, with excellent concentration. As for the rest of Burgundy's whites, wines from the Côte de Beaune fared really well, with mature, fine and concentrated juices. Domaine Leroy, Domaine Ramonet and Maison Jadot are among the vintage's great success stories. In conclusion, whether white or red, Burgundy wines from this vintage should already be drunk, and for those still in bottle, great care and above all a spare wheel should be provided, as the wines must surely be out of shape.

 

Vintage 1982 in VALLEE DU RHÔNE

L'year 1982 is a double-headed vintage in the Rhône Valley. Not so much in terms of quality, even if the southern part of the region fared better overall, but rather in terms of the wines' ability to keep and enjoy well over time.In the Vallée du Rhône Septentrionale, the wines benefited from a very hot summer - too hot, in fact, as many winemakers were unable to control their fermentation. Despite the scorching heat, many of the more modern estates managed to master the high sugar concentration and high alcohol levels, producing rich, powerful, velvety wines. On the other hand, their lack of acidity does not give them great ageing potential. It's best to have already tasted them, or not to wait too long. Domaine Chave's Hermitage, Guigal's Côte-Rôtie and Jaboulet's Cornas are all good examples. As far as the white wines are concerned, the weather has also taken its toll on the winegrowers: although perfectly ripe, the grapes are cruelly lacking in acidity and ageing potential. At present, it will be difficult to find a dry white wine with any pep or substance left in it. For wines from the southern Rhône Valley, the heat did not spare the prestigious appellations. Châteauneuf du pape, Vacqueyras, Gigondas and Tavel all lacked acidity and depth. For the estates with the best cooling facilities, the juices came out of the cellars voluminous, alcoholic and heady, and could be enjoyed in their youth. Rhône wines do not reflect the legendary 1982 vintage and are rather disappointing to taste these days.

 

Vintage 1982 in the REST OF FRANCE

The 1982 vintage was, on the whole, a very good year for the rest of the French vineyards, for two reasons. Either the best winegrowers succeeded in reducing high yields and producing concentrated, full-bodied wines of excellent quality, or for the other winegrowers, the harvest was abundant, flattering and rapidly drinkable, and what's more, buoyed by a Bordeaux super-millennium, which enabled them to sell their wines all over the world without too much difficulty. Visit best-performing regions in 1982 remain Alsace, where Gewurztraminer and Riesling age very well, full-bodied, without heaviness, with hints of spice. The same goes for Champagne, where even though the region broke its production record at the time, some parcels produced perfect grapes. Such is the case with Billecart-Salmon's Chardonnay, for example.

Although their heyday has passed, the best Beaujolais crus have seen their region showcased with a great vintage in which Gamay expressed itself perfectly with opulent, fine, long-lasting wines.

 

Did you enjoy reading this 1982 guide? You can find the best wines of 1980 on the site. We advise you to choose a bottle of 1980 wine with a level consistent with its age. The 1982 wine labels are often slightly stained or damaged (but this is normal for an old vintage). Thank you for reading. Visit the greatest wines of 1980 on Comptoir des Millésimes :

> The best wines in stock from the 1982 vintage