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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