Why was Lafite bought in 1982 so expensive?
Of all these wines, why is Lafite the most famous? And of all the Lafite varieties, why is the 1982 vintage the most expensive?
Of course, Lafite's brand marketing and promotion were prerequisites for its popularity, and Hong Kong films such as "Exiled," "Young and Dangerous," "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," and "God of Gamblers" also contributed to the rise of Lafite '82. However, even without this hype, 1982 did not possess the "magical" power to elevate Lafite to such a legendary status.
1. What year is the wine from?
When discussing the vintage of wine, many people answer "the year the wine was born." While that's true, the process from grape harvesting and winemaking to aging and bottling can take several years, even more than a decade. So, what is the wine's birth year?
The vintage of a wine does represent its "age," but this age is what we commonly refer to as the "Chinese age," which is the year the grapes were harvested.
The vintage is so important because, on the one hand, it represents the climate of that year and reflects the quality of the wine to some extent; on the other hand, it tells us whether the wine has been aged and whether it has reached its best drinking period.
2. Why are there good years and bad years?
If the climate and environment are different every year, resulting in good and bad years for wine, then why does the vintage only exist in wine?
Why do we never pay attention to the difference in vintage when it comes to crops like wheat, soybeans, and sorghum that we eat every day? This has to do with some “distorted” rules in the Old World of wine.
As is well known, the Old World of wine has established a series of laws and regulations regarding grape cultivation and winemaking in order to respect local conditions and the characteristics of wine regions.
To faithfully reflect the weather conditions of each year, even in years with extremely unfavorable climates, wineries are absolutely not allowed to improve the quality of the grapes through artificial means. Thus, the growth of grapes each year is entirely "determined by fate." Under this system of relying on the weather, good years begin to seem all the more precious.
Take the famous year 1982 as an example. Bordeaux had the perfect climate for grape ripening that year—hot but not dry summers, which allowed the grapes to ripen very well; and sunny, rainless harvest season, ensuring the grapes were harvested in their best condition. Thus, 1982 became Bordeaux's "vintage of the century" for the past 50 years, and it was only natural that it fetched a high price.
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