Ask Decanter

Each month our experts answer your burning wine questions. Email your questions to editor@decanter.com

1982 CLARET: STILL OK?

I recently turned 40 and I received a 1982 Château d’Angludet, Margaux. Like me, I’m sure it’s passed its prime drinking window. When would you advise opening it? It’s been cellared for so long, I want to do it justice.

Andy Wilson, by email

Decanter’s Georgina Hindle replies: Congratulations on your recent birthday. I have had a few 1982s recently and they have been stunning. It’s one of the best vintages ever in Bordeaux and many wines are drinking well now and still have a long life ahead. I haven’t personally tried Angludet 1982, but I reached out to the family who own the property and this is the response: ‘Angludet 1982 is just amazing to drink now. We had it one month ago and it was just great. We decanted it an hour before and poured it from a narrow-based decanter. Wonderful vintage, perfect maturity, low acidity with supple and fine tannins.’ I hope that helps. Personally, I might be tempted to open and enjoy it on your next special occasion, but you could also continue to cellar it.

CANNONAU IDENTITY

Is the Sardinian red grape Cannonau the same as a Spanish Garnacha and French Grenache? Are there any major differences in the wine, or is this exactly the same?

James Sullivan, by email

Sarah Jane Evans MW, Decanter contributing editor and DWWA Co-Chair, replies: Cannonau is the Sardinian name for Spain’s Garnacha, France’s Grenache. It’s generally believed that Garnacha originated in the historic Kingdom of Aragón in northern Spain, which then introduced Garnacha across the western Mediterranean. (It should be said that Sardinia believes Cannonau travelled in the other direction, being the begetter of Spanish Garnacha.) France has the most extensive plantings of the variety and it mainly turns up there in blends. Château Rayas in Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the most famous single-variety French Grenache: an icon for Garnachistas.

Garnacha used to be much criticised for its low colour, high alcohol, capacity to oxidise, and general rusticity. In recent years there has been an impressive revival in quality with the work of a new generation of producers. Spain has a remarkable heritage of old bush-vine Garnacha and these bush vines – as in Sardinia and France – have long adapted to their specific climate, and the altitude. Thus Garnacha in the Sierra foothills north of Madrid is different: paler, mineral, fresh.

The Garnacha from Rioja Oriental in the classic Rioja blends, meanwhile, is prized for its aromatic character and strawberry fruit. The Garnachas of Priorat are bold in style, with firm alcohol, often well matched by the crisp acidity of Carignan.

Meanwhile in Sardinia, the Cannonau is different again. The tannin is often more marked, the wine more structured, though the fruit character is similar. Are they the same? The person to ask is Mick O’Connell MW, who wrote his MW dissertation on the wines of Sardinia, where he makes a Garnacha [‘Garnacha not Guerra’]. ‘Short answer: “they’re the same”. Longer answer: “they have found grape seeds going back a long time and could have some pre-dating the arrival of Grenache”. The most likely answer is: “it has adapted to its terroir… massal selection will have [encouraged] the best examples that can cope with the heat and satisfy Sardinia’s desire for big wines”.’