Hey all,
Wondering what bottles you guys would buy from 1983 vintage. Bordeaux wasn’t stellar outside of maybe Margaux & Pomerol & Paulliac (?). Napa wasn’t great that year either. Northern Rhone maybe? As for budget, let’s say you had $3500 to spend total (for a 35th birthday). Thanks!
The Mosel did well.
83 Ch. Margaux is a beautiful wine
83 Beaucastel is a ton of fun
Don’t limit yourself on 83 bordeaux. A lot of them are drinking beautifully and can be a lot of joy
83 Gruaud Larose was outstanding a few weeks ago. Drinking much better right now than the more-acclaimed 86.
83 Palmer, Margaux and Cheval Blanc are all pretty stellar. Had them all recently and can’t go wrong with any of them.
Yquem
'83 Rousseau Chambertin is a wine of a lifetime, if you can find a good one.
Latour!!!
I think it’s the best of the '83s.
I also think '83 was a pretty fine vintage for Bordeaux.
Agreed. Also love the Palmer, too.
JD
1983 Bordeaux were wonderful- it’s what got me into wine.
bought a '83 Licht Auslese for a friend’s upcoming 35th that we’ll probably open in a couple weeks (his Bday is the April 5th). I’ll report back. Mosel did pretty well that year, and JJbuckley still has a couple bottles of this and some JJPrum (pre-arrival, but not due to arrive till December for the Prum though)
I’m also 83. The best 83 I’ve had was Verset Cornas but it won’t be easy to find. I love 83 Mosel and of course Bordeaux is the obvious.
Strong, rather roasted Northern Rhône vintage. Gentaz is the best I’ve had, but the La Chapelle can be excellent and the Chave superb.
'83 La Chapelle can be wonderful, but depends on bottling.
Very surprised to hear this, but I do trust your palate. Will see if I can source some.
I opened bottles of each in the past month.
I love the '86 Gruaud - but I think it needs a lot more time, at least a decade+. The bottle I opened was still damn tannic. I double decanted it about 3 hours before we served it, it was still tight, and it only really began to open up aromatically about 5-ish hours after. I am leaving mine alone for a while.
OTOH, the 83 was smoking right away - needed perhaps 30 mins in a decanter, and really seemed at peak with the fruit showing beautifully and tons of mature complexity. I think the 86 will be the better wine down the long road, but the 83 is the more enjoyable wine to drink now and definitely at peak.
83 Pichon Lalande was tremendous when I had it years back. This would be a much more highly regarded vintage if not for the '82s.
I’ve had some '83s from the Loire that are holding nicely, if you’re into that general region.
Vincent
Oh yes, 83 PLL. Great wine.
Rieussec or Yquem are both splendid. Plenty of red Burgs drink really well. '83 Grange is nice.