1983 Margaux, Had these two bottles with my good friend at dinner last night for my 42 bithday. I was very apprehensive when i decanted this, as i did not get the feeling the wine had survived. This bottle was kept under the stairs in a basement since release,by someone i know, who sold it to me.Fill was base neck A tiny first sip revealed nothing at all , in fact i thought it was gone but i detected some underlying sweetness not typical of a worn out bottle. After about 1 hour the wine exploded and let out its terrific nose of fruit.There was some amber around the edges,but the wine was completely intact and was still a dark ruby colour. The tannins had integrated beautifully. On the palate there was lots of fruit and minerals, velvety smooth and opulent. Beautiful loamy feel and lush texture. A great wine 99 or 100.
1970 Mouton Chagall label
This wine was orange around the edges and showing its age, it was lighter in colour than the Margaux .Fill was base neck. The fruit had fallen away somewhat, but is still evident.
Muted nose of berries, cassis and some leather, it was a very good bottle of wine , especially given its age, easily a 95. Both these wines had tons of class and elegance. Bordeaux at its best. Even my 12 year old was impressed with the Margaux.

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Even my 12 year old was impressed with the Margaux.

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Your grooming your son to be a wine snob early!
It's going to take a large allowance to sustain him after that.

The only thing my dad let me taste was his room temperature Schmidts beer. Turned me off to beer for 5 years.

Great notes. Sounds memorable. Good job!

I had the 1983 Margaux about 4 months ago and could not agree more. Truly amazing.

The 1983 Margaux is probably better than the great 1982 and 1985. Thanks for the notes.

drthvader

Those are some really nice wines, and especially to be able to taste then together.

I had the 1983 Chateau Margaux last year and about all it had it common with your experience was the loamy taste......This was at a wine tasting of "Wines You Can't Afford", which included some real heavy hitters, like Petrus & Lafite also! The 1983 Margaux was very close to dead.

Later in the summer, I had the 1982 Chateau Margaux. That bottle was from my cellar, but it was also very disappointing! I think I opened it too soon and it has a nice future yet to come. Should anyone have a bottle of 1982 Chateau Margaux------do not open it until 2010-2015!

I don't think I've ever tasted the 1970 Mouton, but it sounded wonderful.

We had the 1983 Margaux two nights ago and found it completely closed. The owner of the restaurant, a man we've known since he opened his bistro, brought over a wine importer to taste the wine with us. this was 2 hours after decanting. He said the nose was too alcoholic to be ready to drink. His opinion, as well as mine, was that the wine needs at least five more years. My bottles were purchased at release and have been stored properly ever since. The amazing Margaux perfume took time to develop, but was readily apparent after three hours. It was tannic, yet not without elegance. It was dry and astringent, but began to deepen around thetime we were finishing it. I'd give it a 90 now and hope for a lot more in the future.

By the way, I've loved the '70 Mouton every time I've had it.

Just one more sip.

My only explanation is that my bottle was basically stored at room tempreature since release. I suspect this advanced the ageing process somewhat.

I can't attest to provenance of the bottle(s) of the 83 Margaux we sampled as I was the guest at a nice corporate gathering, nor can I recall how long they were decanted. But the 83 Margaux was just too amazing - somewhere between 95 and 100 in my book. I'm guessing the majority of the guests did not have the slightest idea of how well we were treated. A fairly reknown master sommelier and master of wine "hosted" the event for the corporate sponsor. We had some 97 Screagle, 94 Harlan, 83 Mouton, 97 Banfi Poggio Alle Mure (sp?), and many other wines that were good, just less note worthy.

I opened an '83 Margaux in July (for my birthday also) and the first bottle was CORKED. The second bottle took 2 hours of decanting to open up, but after that, it was glorious. Typical Margaux in finesse, and long finish. Easily a 97-98 pointer.
I have 2 left and will probably wait 4 years (25th anniversary) to open.

We had this wine last Sunday night as part of a Margaux vertical dinner.

The wine had a nose redolent of cedar, stewed fruit, and cassis. On the palate, it was rich, supple, and modestly complex. Flavors of plums and blackberries melded well with the soft tannins. Seems ready now. Everybody scored this a 93 except for one 92.

I had this wine over a year ago at Coles Chop House and didn't find it nearly as appealing as the score would warrant. Surely needed more time, but 99pts, I doubt it will ever achieve.