1983 Red Bordeaux
7:30pm, Thursday, September 29, 1994.
At Frank F's in Sage Estates in Menands, NY.

My second WCC tasting. Wines opened 6 - 6:30. Tasting started at 8:10, ended at 10:15. 14 attendees including all 8 from the first (white Burgundy) and Larry S.


Flight 1


1983 Talbot -- 87 points
Leathery nose. Tar, bell pepper, a little short. Opening up quickly. Ready.

1983 Gruaud Larose -- 88
Leathery nose just like the Talbot with a little cabbage to boot. Medium length. Drink 1997-2007.

1983 Leoville Las Cases -- 91-93
Minty nose. Medium body, long minty, plummy finish. Excellent.

1983 Sammarco (Italy) -- 92
[Brought by me as a "mystery wine." Not as good an idea as I had thought.] Loads of tannins, but they're soft. Really ripe and sweet with licorice and cherries. Has the same flavor profile as the Bordeaux, but also has lots of sweet cherry fruit. A few think it's excellent. Most not impressed. I never thought these `83 Bordeaux would all taste so hard. I sure hope these guys don't complain about tannins when we have a Barolo tasting.


Flight 2


1983 L'Angelus -- 90
Cedar, mushrooms, coffee, chocolate. More forward than the others.

1983 Cos d'Estournel -- 91
Tight, chocolaty nose. Lots of cedar and chocolate. Has a ways to go before it's ready, maybe 2003 or so.

1983 Lynch Bages -- 89
Lighter, less tannic. Medium length. Fine but not impressive.

1983 Pichon Lalande -- 92-93
[Brought by me.] Big cherry nose. Excellent thickness, good length. Holds up well against the next flight. Needs 3-5 more years. Can still be bought for $35-40, good value.


Flight 3


1983 Haut Brion -- 92
[Brought by Dick L.] Marshmallow nose. Long minerally (gravelly?) finish. Less body than others in this flight.

1983 Latour -- 92-94
Muted nose. Yummy, sweet, tasty, but a long way to go. Some perfume developing by 9:30.

1983 Lafite -- 90-92
Cedar nose (surprise, surprise). Very tannic, tar, petroleum, tart. Try in 2005.

1983 Mouton -- 92
Thick, dark plums, chocolate mousse. Ready, but will live for 10-15 years.


Flight 4


1983 Cheval Blanc -- 94
[Brought by Larry S.] Tons of soft tannins, at first. Sweet chocolate and red currants. Ready and very appealing.

1983 Palmer -- 89
Forward, long finish, but a lightweight in this flight.

1983 Margaux -- 97
Clearly the wine of the tasting (as it was in the Margaux vertical). Huge, exciting, superlong finish. So much sweet fruit, but so much more.

1983 Petrus -- 93
[$265, we all chipped in.] Most were disappointed. My expectations weren't that high. Nose of tobacco and grenadine syrup. Like drinking chocolate mousse. Nothing like the `90 but very good all the same.


Dessert


1983 Hammes-Wild Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese -- 86
Light yellow. Thin, apply, ok, no better.

1983 d'Yquem -- 96
[Cellar temp. Frank felt badly that everyone was disappointed with the German wine which he had carried back on a recent trip to visit his mother, so he pulled this out of his cellar for us. Nice guy!]Huge, honeyed nose. Deep gold. Just stunning.

 

 

 


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