1982 - Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac

So much depth to the fruit, this is still pulsating even as it knocks on 40 years old. Last tasted July 2018, and two years on it continues to deliver at the top of its game, but surely now is the time to drink to be sure of getting the full experience. You can expect soft tertiary notes of truffle and cedar but the fruit remains caressing and welcoming, with caramel-edged sweet black cherry and blackberry, fleshy and exotic. One to share, and to give thanks for. May-Eliane de Lencquesaing had been at Pichon for four years at this point and she oversaw a relatively generous 40hl/h yield. Harvest 16-30 September.

The 1982 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande has a justifiably lofty reputation and this bottle is evidence that it has lost hardly any of its allure. Backward, almost surly on the nose at first, it opens gloriously with intense blackberry and blueberry fruit, pressed violet and background scents of a marshy estuary. Stunning delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with more sapidity than I recall, beautifully structured and so velvety smooth that you do not notice the depth of this Pauillac. Almost sensual on the finish, this continues to cruise at a high altitude. Tasted single blind at the 1982 dinner at Corus in London.