Château Léoville du Marquis de Las Cases 1982 Saint-Julien - Bordeaux

100 Points Robert Parker for Wine Advocate: "Still stubbornly backward, yet beginning to budge from its pre-adolescent stage, this dense, murky ruby/purple-colored wine offers up notes of graphite, sweet caramel, black cherry jam, cassis, and minerals. The nose takes some coaxing, and the decanting of 2-4 hours prior to service is highly recommended. For such a low acid wine, it is huge, well-delineated, extremely concentrated, and surprisingly fresh. Perhaps because I lean more toward the hedonistic view of wine than the late Michel Delon, I have always preferred this to the 1986, but the truth is that any lover of classic Medoc should have both vintages in their cellar. This wine has monstrous levels of glycerin, extract, and density, but still seems very youthful, and tastes more like a 7 to 8-year-old Bordeaux than one that is past its twentieth birthday. A monumental effort."

99 Points Jeb Dunnick: "Tasted at the domaine, the 1982 Leoville Las Cases is just about pure perfection, and while certainly mature, it has plenty of life ahead of it. Thrilling notes of blackcurrants, kirsch, tobacco leaf, cedar box, menthol, and exotic spices all emerge from this seamless, powerful yet magically elegant Léoville Las Cases. Opening up in the glass, with a smoky, singular character, it's an incredible wine from this terroir that has an almost Latour-like regal quality."

98 Points Decanter: "Beautifully fragrant nose, dried flowers and cedar, iron and salted-caramelized cherries: graceful and understated. Refined palate, sleek yet dense with generous and imposing tannins, yet remaining round and approachable. This has real charm with underlying drive but presented in such a complete and harmonious way; polished and precise with tons of energy. A stunning wine and so easy to drink, full of cherries and red berries with savory touches of cigar smoke and leather that give a hint of maturity but in no way shout that it's more than 40 years old. Just wonderful. Winemaker was Bruno Rolland, who took over from his father, his grandfather and grand uncle. 5% Petit Verdot completes the blend."

97 Points Wine Advocate: "As I wrote earlier this year, the 1982 Léoville Las Cases is one of the least evolved wines of the vintage, and this impeccably conserved ex-château bottle was, if anything, even more youthful still. Retaining a saturated ruby-black hue at age 40, it unwinds in the glass with aromas of cassis and other dark fruits mingled with notions of pencil shavings and loamy soil. On the palate, it's full-bodied, broad-shouldered and muscular, with an ample core of fruit framed by voluminous, powdery tannins. Rich and concentrated, with an expansive, comparatively low-acid profile, it comes into its own with extended aeration—and with food. "