35th Anniversary Wine

My parents are celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary next month so thought it would be cool to open a bottle of wine from 1983 with all the siblings. I’d like to keep the price under $200, preferably under $150. I was thinking the Dunn Howell mountain if I can find one, but looking for other ideas.

My parents aren’t huge wine drinkers but they do enjoy a nice cab

Lots of 1982 Bordeaux still on the market, check out various sources across the country, do a bit of homework on wines featured, and there you go -

AND - Don’t be afraid of the little wines; But best to stick with the Cabernet based Left Bank wines (Medoc/Haut-Medoc) if you are going to purchase a more obscure wine. The Right Bank’s Merlot based wines from the smaller appellations have seen their best days.

Thanks for the response. I did edit the OP as my math is poor. May 21 will be there 35th anniversary, so looking for 1983 bottles, not 82, but the above post has great info! Thanks

The Right Bank in Bordeaux had a super year in 1983. Ch. Canon can be had for $200-$250. The last bottle I had a couple of years ago was wonderful. It was also a particularly good year in Margaux.

Left Bank and Haut Medoc too.

Excellent Bordeaux in your price range from what I’ve seen: Poyferre, Montrose, Calon-Segur, Cantemerle, Magdelaine.

We recently drank a 83 Pichon Lalande that was off the charts good. I have no idea how much it goes for.

all good suggestions, though your initial idea of Dunn is a good one as well.

Not normally a huge Bordeaux guy, but the many 1983 Palmer’s I’ve had over the years have been fantastic. Margaux is pretty special as well - and a good value to boot for a first growth - but is still not cheap.

Do you know a place where he can purchase Palmer or Margaux 1983 by the glass? Because nowadays that’s all he could get within his budget.

You may want to consider vintage Port. Relatively affordable and nice for a celebratory toast. Easy to share with a larger group.
Good luck,
Peter

Not cab, but I’ve had good experience with '83 Sauternes, which is available a lower pricing and generally crowd friendly. Might be worth trying one of those too.

If you value your sanity and peace of mind, then do not click on this link:

[u]https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/palmer+1983/[/u]

And whatever you do, don’t scroll down through it.

It just gets worse and worse and worse, the deeper you go.

.

1983 Brane-Cantenac & 1983 Prieure-Lichine were good 10+ years ago and are likely in your price range.

Agree about 1983 Pichon-lalande but it’s over your $$.

OK, so far so good and I agree with the people above.

Now, to get evil…

Ducru Beaucaillou St Julien Medoc…255…BUT!..that’s in magnum! (On Wine Searcher.)

Chateau Montrose, 1983, magnum, 300 bucks. (On Wine Searcher.)

1983 Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill in magnum…275. (On Wine Searcher.)

To get back to budget: 1983 Berringer private Reserve cab in magnum at 199 at K&L.

1983 Chateau Poujeaux, Moulis-en-Medoc magnum…179 dollars at K&L.

1983 Chateau La Croix de Gay, Pomerol magnum…223 at Wine Searcher.

1983 Catherine et Pierre Breton Chinon Beaumont magnum…175 at Wine Searcher.

Plenty of great wines at your budget in 750 size. Hit K&L or Wine Searcher and you will find happy things! But, magnums seem indicated by the number of people who will want a taste!

Cheers to your parents!!!

I think Dunn would be ideal but no luck finding a ‘83 on line. The above posts are great! Got my homework for this evening

Too bad K&L doesn’t ship to Florida

Crap!

I hate that!

This may be a situation where buying into the “pro” section of Wine Searcher pays dividends.

So many underachievers in Margaux came back with a vengeance in 1983, you can’t purchase a bad wine from Margaux from 1983. Even the little wines are very special.

Also - not a bad vintage for VINTAGE PORT - and the nice thing about Port is - you can get 12 pretty healthy servings out of a bottle - more to go around for a toast -

got an email offer from Envoyer last night that included an '83 Montrose, '83 Domaine de Chevalier, and '83 Canon, all sub $160. I thought those were some pretty stellar prices on three wines I’d be happy drinking on an anniversary.

There is your winner.

Yikes, my bad on the Palmer and Margaux. Maybe I’m showing my age, but these used to be sub-$250 wines