Twenty Years On: The 1982 Vintage
An obvious choice for a twenty year on tasting has to be the 1982 vintage. It was a great success for Bordeaux (see my 1982 Bordeaux tasting), now widely regarded as the greatest vintage since 1961. It has also gone down in history as the vintage in which Robert Parker made his name, declaring it as a great vintage when many established critics were decrying the wines. Parker himself, however, is happy to point out that first to heap praise rather than criticism upon the vintage was the French critic Michel Bettane.
This was not just a great year for Bordeaux, however, as vintage conditions were also excellent in Rioja, and some stupendous Gran Reserva wines were produced. Champagne and the Northern Rhône also enjoyed excellent conditions, although I feel in Champagne the wines have always been slightly overshadowed by those produced in 1985. In Portugal there was a good harvest, although most houses felt that quality was eclipsed by that in 1983, and this was a more widely declared vintage. Only a small number of houses, including Croft and Quinta do Noval, bottled a vintage Port in 1982. (10/4/02).
