Still primordially young for a 1996 champagne, though there are very nascent secondary notes starting to emerge on the palate. Dense and concentrated, lots of minerality, plenty of orchard fruit, and very balanced acidity (high, but counterweighted by all the stuffing on the palate). An excellent showing of an excellent wine -- it's clear this has lots and lots of aging potential still, though for my palate this is drinking splendidly already.

A fantastic showing for Keller, showing the ripeness of the vintage very well. Ripe and large-scaled, with lots of fruit-based sweetness showing on the palate. A dense mineral core, with an almost chalky quality on the finish. Not the most elegant version of this wine, but there's plenty impressive about the weight here. This reminds me of the 2006, but clean and fresh.

Nowhere as good as a prior experience from magnum a few years back. The perfume on the nose is distinct and beautiful, with a core of drying fruit and a modest hint of pencil shavings. Somewhat light on the palate with silky tannins. Fully resolved at this point, I'd be inclined to drink this (at least in fifth) sooner than later.

The nose here was better than the palate -- a bit of leather and cedar, and in general pretty classic old Bordeaux notes. The palate was thinning and somewhat hollow, lacking weight at this point. Given how this is thinning out, best to drink up.

A few years ago, I preferred the 82 LMHB to this in the same side-by-side. Unfortunately today, the LMHB was oxidized. In any case, this was my favourite of the 1982 flight. Red fruited and relatively light, with classic Haut-Brion minerality with a lifted quality that I really liked.

I initially thought that this was corked owing to some intense mustiness on the nose. While the cardboard note didn't get worse over the evening, it also never dissipated. Clearly an unrepresentative bottle.

The sheer amount of hype behind this consistently disappointing wine (and Château, really) generated by The Emperor of Wine (who incidentally has no clothes on) reminds me of the 1990 La Chapelle. Initially there was a promise of something nice on the nose with the perfume, but this just clamped down hard. Dark fruit and tannins, but no expressiveness whatsoever.

Served next to the Haut-Brion, but sadly no comparison was possible as this bottle was oxidized.

Of the 1982s, this showed the youngest and freshest. A very muscular profile, with a good core of fruit underpinning the structure. Impressive freshness for a 1982; it feels like this actually improved in the glass, and well-kept bottles of this should still be able to benefit from cellar time.

This was absolutely stunning right at the outset, with that classic Haut-Brion minerality but with everything also kicked up a notch (and wine of the night potential). Unfortunately, it faded quite quickly in the glass, and the fruit started showing slight browning notes. Turns out that this was too aggressively decanted.

Nowhere as good as my previous experience with this wine. If anything, this showed muddled and lacking in precision. Still, this had an impressive core of fruit and plenty of mineral intensity. Feels young, with plenty more aging potential thanks to its larger structure.

Intense and brooding, this is one of my favourite bottles of Bordeaux. Consistent with my prior experiences, I really love the intense dark fruit that's decorated by modest classic bordelais notes of pyrazine and wood shavings. Only starting to show secondary characteristics, this is powerful wine that has many, many years left.

This was stunning from the beginning and didn't really let up either. My favourite of the three bottles of Haut-Brion tonight. Quite dark in complexion, showing the vintage's ripe fruit quite clearly, but without losing the Haut-Brion minerality. A slight touch of coffee on the midpalate as well.

That you can get up to a dozen of these for the price of a single bottle of the other wines in the flight, it really held its own. Cedary and mature; not as intense a core of fruit and showing a little earthier, but very much classic, textbook Bordeaux.

From half-bottle. Apricot and marmalade, with a very classic Sauternes profile. Quite delicate and floral, with a moderate amount of sweetness. Pretty nice.

Coming off the recent 1993 GKA, this is a substantially similar wine -- a bit lighter and more delicate on the palate, perhaps. I love the acidity and slight herbal tones here. A light texture that really dances on the palate.

From half-bottle. Very much classic muscat aromaticity on the nose, which added interest to a very sweet wine. In contrast to the #6, this was more lifted and delicate, and showed more balance with the brown-sugar inflected sweetness. I used to really like these wines, but nowadays I feel they lack the finesse of high-Praedikat German wines.

Very high alcohol on the nose. Not very balanced, with a very odd herbal note. The spirit sticks out too much, and the fruit is too thin.