All 3 wines slow-oxidized for 45 minutes, then decanted and immediately poured. Served single blind with a reveal right before the last drop.
1983 Château Canon- France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Tasted single blind with 1983 Cheval Blanc and 1983 Latour a Pomerol. Oxidized, porty. Cranberry/raspberry, occasionally vinegary–improved after two hours but never right. I did get the sense a good wine was hiding somewhere. NR (flawed)
1983 Château Cheval Blanc- France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Tasted single blind with 1983 Canon and 1983 Latour a Pomerol–but there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that the preposterously good Wine B was the Cheval Blanc. My first genuinely transporting wine experience and the best bottle I have ever tasted. Each whiff of this wine made me feel like I was snuggling up to a fireplace with a hot chocolate and a blanket in a cabin in the middle of winter, and the warm fuzzies put a silly grin on my face all night long. Started with a little pleasant funk on the nose. Tons of smoke and tobacco, a shapeshifting fruit profile, an incredibly silky texture, and a killer finish. Beautiful, elegant, refined. I was too emotionally overtaken by this wine to provide a more detailed description. (97 pts.)
1983 Château Latour à Pomerol- France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Tasted single blind with 1983 Cheval Blanc and 1983 Canon. Purple and early adolescent; incredibly young-tasting for its age. Very impressive, laserlike pure dark fruit–mostly blueberry, some blackberry. Sweet, with strong chocolate and some vanilla on the finish, but not oaky. Persistent and rich. A bit monochromatic, but a wine with a sense of purpose. (90 pts.)
1983 Château Cheval Blanc- France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (5/17/2011)
Served single-blind with 83 Canon and 83 Latour a Pomerol. Constantly changing nose. Stunningly complex aromas of dark fruit, saddle leather, pipe tobacco, black pepper, foresty cedar. Just a touch of VA that blows off with air. On the palate this is liquid silk, powerful but not the least bit heavy, just a touch of velvet tannin. A palate you want to crawl inside of and walk around and explore. Perfect balance. Long finish. This needed some air to show its best but then it it peaked very quickly and started to decline slightly in the glass after another 20 minutes or so, losing the depth of fruit. This was drinking fully mature, but I wonder if this bottle may have been a little more advanced than it should be, and it lacked just a little something in fruit purity and intensity and on the finish if we want to pick nits. Perfectly stored bottles may be even better. Regardless, a great wine. (95 pts.)
1983 Château Latour à Pomerol- France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol (5/17/2011)
Served single-blind in a flight with 83 Cheval Blanc and 83 Canon. Dark, almost black color. The nose is beautiful, smelling of dark berry fruit dipped in mint chocolate and adding a strong tobacco note with air. On the palate this has great depth and intensity, with waves of pure black fruit liqueur. This had a heavier, thicker texture than the other wines, but it’s not napa cab thick, and it’s never heavy or overbearing. A bit of a cigar flavor to the tannin, with more mint chocolate on the long finish. A little monochromatic compared to the Cheval Blanc sitting next to it, but with greater fruit intensity and concentration. Drinking great but still showing plenty of structure, this is still probably a few years from peak. (93 pts.)
1983 Château Canon- France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (5/17/2011)
Served single-blind in a flight with 83 Cheval Blanc and 83 Latour a Pomerol. Clearly oxidized, although not entirely dead. Cranberry, dark cherry, graphite, spice. Decent depth of fruit on the attack but the oxidation clips off the mid-palate and the finish, making the wine vinegary and flabby. A shame as there was clearly a very good wine hiding underneath. NR (flawed)
