Vieux Chateau Certan 1982

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Hazelnut cream flavours. Fine. Dense. Lift. Correct. A long-flavoured wine with many intriguing layers."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The 1982 Vieux Château Certan didn't make waves in its youth, yet it is going from strength to strength today. Produced by Léon Thienpont, four years before his son Alexandre took the helm, it offers up rich aromas of mulberries, black truffle, forest floor, spices and cedar. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, with an ample core of fruit, melting tannins and an expansive, sapid finish, this is a comparatively underrated 1982 Bordeaux today."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Fully developed, this beauty served up the goods once it hit the glass, no decanting needed. The earthy, floral, tobacco, cherry and forest floor perfume took no effort to find. The wine had depth of flavor, just a touch of rusticity in the otherwise, round, soft, earthy, bright red fruit, and tobacco leaf-filled finish."

DECANTER: "The colour is holding well enough, but the aromatic spectrum seems to be tiring a little: dusty and medicinal. On the palate, too, this is now a wine of pale complexion; the bones are beginning to show beneath the skin. Still a delicious drink: elegant and harmonious, but no longer as exciting as it once would have been."

WINE SPECTATOR: "A lovely and harmonious red. Beautiful cherry, floral and berry character. Full-bodied, with velvety tannins and long, focused berry and milk chocolate flavors. Drink now or hold.--1982 Bordeaux horizontal."