This Week's Must-Try Wines from Vinous

Welcome to this week's Must-Try Wines from Vinous! Each week we compile a list of wines from the Vinous database that you need to add to your wine wish list. With all the various regions, producers, and grapes, no week will be the same! All of the wines listed in this feature are available for purchase on Banquet . This week's must-try wines are from Neal Martin’s article, A Century of Bordeaux: The Twos . Enjoy an excerpt from this article and reviews below! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Why look back 10 years when you could look back 20, 30, 40, perhaps 110 years? After a lockdown hiatus, my annual 'Century of…' article examines an array of Bordeaux wines from a raft of 2012s, all the way back to the year the Titanic sank." --Neal Martin, A Century of Bordeaux: The Twos, September 2022 1. 2012 Angélus 2. 1982 Batailley 3. 2012 Batailley 4. 1982 Cheval Blanc 5. 2012 Cheval Blanc 6. 1982 Lafite-Rothschild 7. 1982 Latour 8. 1982 Léoville Las-Cases 9. 2012 Montrose 10. 2012 Smith Haut Lafitte

Château Smith Haut Lafitte

Grand Cru Classé Pessac-Léognan Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2012

Delectable Wine
9.4

The 2012 Smith Haut Lafitte has an intense, well-defined and quite complex bouquet with blackberry, briary and cigar humidor scents. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, fine acidity, cohesive and poised with quite a firm grip towards the finish. This is another classy Pessac-Léognan and a wonderful example from Pessac-Léognan that might well be leading the pack at this stage. Bon vin. Tasted twice at Bordeaux Index's Ten Year-On tasting and blind at the Southwold Ten-Year On tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, September 2022)
— 2 years ago

Ira and Rob liked this

Château Lafite Rothschild

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1982

Delectable Wine
9.8

The 1982 Lafite-Rothschild is a wine I have drunk several times, though maybe this is the first time in magnum. It is deeply impressive. Deep in colour, it has a classic Pauillac nose with intense black fruit mixed with pencil shavings and black truffles. It simply oozes class. The palate is very well balanced with finely-chiselled tannins, spellbinding definition and immense, dare I say it, almost "Latour-like" stature on the persistent finish. Magnificent. Tasted at the 1982 Dinner at Hatched. (Neal Martin, Vinous, September 2022)
— 2 years ago

Ira, Rob and 4 others liked this

Château Cheval Blanc

St. Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend 1982

Delectable Wine
9.6

The 1982 Cheval Blanc is a vintage that I have not drunk for a number of years, so this was a pertinent reminder of its pulchritude. It has a flat-out gorgeous bouquet with ebullient red fruit, warm bricks (terracotta), hints of liquorice and strawberry jam. It's the kind of bouquet that you could bathe in. The palate has a ripe entry, voluptuous yet exquisitely balanced, the Cabernet components of this Cheval Blanc quite expressed and more pronounced than I recall. Yet it's toying with you as it segues into a more Burgundy-like final third. Mercurial, sensual and riveting. Tasted at the 1982 Dinner at Hatched. (Neal Martin, Vinous, September 2022)
— 2 years ago

Rob, Ken and 1 other liked this

Château Montrose

Saint-Estèphe Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2012

Delectable Wine
9.4

The 2012 Montrose has a taut and focused bouquet with crisp blackberry, tobacco and light earthy scents on the nose. Fine vigour and class evident here. The palate is medium-bodied with chewy tannins on the entry, fine acidity, lightly spiced with a nicely proportioned and focused finish. This is a solid, almost swarthy Montrose, though it is surpassed by more recent vintages. Tasted twice at Bordeaux Index's Ten Year-On tasting and blind at the Southwold Ten-Year On tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, September 2022)
— 2 years ago

Rob liked this

Château Latour

Premier Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1982

Delectable Wine
10

The 1982 Latour is the most consistent of the First Growths in this auspicious vintage. Tasted from both bottle and magnum in the UK in recent months, this note comes from an ex-château magnum tasted at a private dinner in Bordeaux. It exudes class and majesty on the nose with its copious but brilliantly focused black fruit laced with cedar and graphite. To use a phrase I have written before, it is blue-blooded...regal. That comes through on a palate that has a haunting symmetry and a killer finish that is brilliantly defined and audaciously long, graphite lingering on the aftertaste. Quite simply, claret does not come better than this. Tasted at a private dinner in Bordeaux. (Neal Martin, Vinous, September 2022)
— 2 years ago

Ira, Rob and 4 others liked this

Château Batailley

Pauillac Cabernet Sauvignon 2012

Delectable Wine
9.2

The 2012 Batailley has plenty of fruit on the nose: blackberry, raspberry, a touch of shoe leather and sage. The palate is medium-bodied with a slight bitterness on the entry, nicely balanced though, cedar and tobacco infusing the black fruit with a touch more fruit on the finish compared to Haut-Batailley. It just needs more time in bottle. Tasted blind at the Southwold Ten-Year On tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, September 2022)
— 2 years ago

Rob liked this

Château Angélus

St. Émilion Grand Cru Red Bordeaux Blend 2012

Delectable Wine
9.3

The 2012 Angélus has a fragrant bouquet: a mixture of red and black fruit, truffle, crushed stone and light wilted flower scents. Very pretty. The palate is medium-bodied with fine delineation and good acidity, quite sappy with modest depth. Fairly structured with a dash of white pepper and peppermint on the finish. This Angélus has tons of personality and is drinking well now. Tasted twice at Bordeaux Index's Ten Year-On tasting and blind at the Southwold Ten-Year On tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, September 2022)
— 2 years ago

Ken and Ericsson liked this

Château Léoville-Las Cases

Grand Vin de Leoville du Marquis de las Cases Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 1982

Delectable Wine
9.3

The bottle of 1982 Léoville Las-Cases was sadly out of condition, though fortunately I tasted another example at a private dinner in Bordeaux a few weeks later. To be honest, I have always preferred the 1985 or 1986 to this vintage, and this gives me no reason to change my mind. It has a surliness on the nose that is uncharacteristic of this vintage, tightly wound tertiary scents, melted tar and pencil shavings. The palate is full-bodied with fine grip, dense and quite powerful, yet it is more impressive than pleasurable. The aforementioned vintages have pulled away from the 1982 in recent years, though it remains a very fine Saint-Julien. It just needs to turn its frown upside down. Tasted at the 1982 Dinner at Hatched. (Neal Martin, Vinous, September 2022)
— 2 years ago

Ira, Rob and 3 others liked this

Château Cheval Blanc

St. Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend 2012

Delectable Wine
9.4

The 2012 Cheval Blanc has a lovely bouquet with raspberry coulis, hints of marmalade and just a touch of espresso, nicely detailed though not intense. The palate is medium-bodied with a strict entry. This is quite backward and tight, lightly spiced with a touch of sour cherry and cracked black pepper on the finish. This is a delicious, well-crafted Cheval Blanc. A second bottle demonstrates just a little more backbone and persistence. Tasted twice at Bordeaux Index's Ten Year-On tasting and blind at the Southwold Ten-Year On tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, September 2022)
— 2 years ago

Rob liked this

Château Batailley

Pauillac Cabernet Sauvignon 1982

Delectable Wine
9.0

The 1982 Batailley is a vintage that has never quite met my expectations. Now at almost four decades old, I find that the aromatics lack the fruité of its peers, also compared to the superior 1989. Earthy, dried leaves and light smoky aromas gently waft from the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with dry tannins and vestiges of red fruit, a little sour now, but it fades a little towards the peppery finish. This used to be knitted together, but now it feels a little frayed at the seams. Tasted at the château. (Neal Martin, Vinous, September 2022)
— 2 years ago