Decant Advice Needed: 1982 Leoville Las Cases

WINE TALK
1

I am opening this tomorrow for my birthday and have a few questions…

  1. I stood the bottle up today to let the sediment settle. Is that enough time?

  2. Should I decant? How long in advance? Should I decant in a single or double size decanter?

  3. Any food recommendations?

  4. Any special tips for opening the wine?

I have never had an older Bordeaux let alone an 82 so want to make sure I cover all of my bases.

Thanks for any tips,
Mike

2
  1. yes 2. yes, hour is enough, I have no idea…I only have regular decanters. 3. I love bordeaux with grilled steak but tons of choices. 4. I use an ah-so for older bottles. Enjoy!

Oh, what happened to the label?

3

I recently had one. It was shut down HARD for 3-4 hours after being first opened to slow ox it… as in “is this cork stripped cuz there’s no nose…” shut down. Had it that evening double decanted a couple of hours before and it was fine, but continued to open over the evening. YMMV etc, but I’d open it and pour a small taste a few hours ahead. If your bottle is like ours was, double decant 2-3 hours ahead. If yours is open for biz, just let the bottle slow ox.

4

Thanks guys. This was a gift from someone who purchased and stored on release so not sure how the label got that way. The fill is above the shoulder 1/4 way up the neck. I only have corkscrews so should I go in at an angle and go slow?

5

we didn’t see any problem with the cork. Corks vary, but ours was in great shape.

6

I say, remove the cork 4 or 5 ours before drinking, and put the bottle “on shoulder” (remove a little and taste it)

Such a high- end wine is eating and drinking at the same time [cheers.gif]
In other words, its a pitty to spoil the wine with food.
Enjoy!

HarryS

7

Agree with Rick’s advice. This is not a shy shrinking violet of a wine that will fade with air. slow oxing for 4-5 hours, and double decanting 2 hours before if needed should work OK. the bottlerick and I (and others) shared needed all of that and perhaps more.

8

lolwut

9

I’ve had the 82 Las Cases twice this year. First was double decanted for 4-6 hours while the second was popped and poured about 1-2 hours into a dinner. Both bottles still showed “primary” albeit at different phases of evolution. I would double decant the wine (pour into a decanter and back into the bottle after some gentle oxygen exposure) and allow it to sit in bottle at cellar temperature for about 2 hours then I’d ideally taste it over the course of several hours to gauge its evolution in glass as it comes to optimal temperature. I found it a mercurial wine both times but it will definitely show a fair amount of evolution which can be intellectually gratifying.

Cheers

10

I always like a nice rack of lamb with something like this so that would be my vote. A rib veal chop is also nice. I would probably not go with something too fatty like a ribeye - save that for a bigger wine.

Buy an ah-so - it really can be a big help with older corks.

11

Had the wine earlier this year; it was good Bordeaux drinking well in its window. I think you will enjoy it as well.

  1. A few days is better but I doubt this would impede your enjoyment of the wine.
  2. You should decant for sediment (if you wish) and then enjoy immediately thereafter by following the wine to its peak. The most interesting olfactory evolution of this wine will happen within its first half hour and then it will slowly settle into its groove for a little while; after this, the most interesting aromatic elements will diffuse into obscurity. One time a fellow I knew received some poor advice on the interwebs about decanting a 1983 Margaux… he left it in a decanter for six hours… ruined a perfectly good wine, poor sod.
  3. Lamb or game meats… wrapped in bacon.
  4. Ah-So but a regular opener should be okay.
12

Mark - I dig the scoring system.

13

While one should always try a small glass of almost any wine upon openning so that you don’t miss a fleeting early event, our bottle needed a lot of air. We had this wine, with the 86 and the 90 afew months ago, and all benefitted from plenty of air. If you had popped and poured the 82 (at least the bottle we had), you would have noticed it hitting it’s stride somewhere around 4hrs, or an hour or so after our tasting was over. I was a little surprised at this, as the majority of 82’s I’ve had are now at a pop and enjoy slowly stage. Perhaps we had an off bottle, as I think we all prefered the 86 and the 90 over the 82.

14

We had a very nice bottle of the 1982 that benefited for sure from a couple hours of air. Not as expressive as some other 82s, but still eventually some signature Bordeaux notes there. A lot of people say this wine needs more time, but I think it is at peak and will not substantially improve.

15

I agree–I don’t think it will get any better. Certainly enjoyable, but not the best LLC in the 80’s.

16

Fill is perfect for it’s age, the bin/damp stained label is normal for an item that has been in a dark, damp and cool place for the last 27-ish years. A humid cellar Is bad for the label, but good for the cork…