Home > Vintages and Regions > Bordeaux > Bordeaux 1983

Bordeaux 1983

Living in the shadow of the 1982 vintage can't be easy. For consumers, however, knowledge of the fact that great vintages sometimes eclipse a very good one that follows can be an advantage. Astute buyers know that in Margaux this vintage was more successful than the preceding one, and in fact was probably the greatest vintage of the decade for this particular commune. It was also a chance for the leading estates in Sauternes to show off, and here the vintage most certainly surpasses the preceding one. Choose carefully and this is a vintage that has provide many drinkers of Bordeaux with a host of excellent and very good wines, sometimes at very favourable prices.

Vintage Review

Following on from such a successful vintage, the vines were in good condition as the year opened. Although the weather very early on was not good, it soon improved, and by the time the vines were in flower the skies were fine and clear. The summer continued to be warm and dry; the developing fruit enjoyed a delightful June followed by the hottest July on record. The month was not without showers, however, and the humidity they brought encouraged rot and mildew, and brought the workers out into the vineyards in order to spray treatments against these afflictions. August started out similarly hot, but halfway through the month the weather turned; temperatures dropped, the skies filled with clouds, and the amount of rainfall increased even further. This cool weather continued into September, harvest month, and uneasy vignerons watched the skies hoping for a change. This came on September 18th, when strong winds helped to dry out the vines and their fruit, aided by warm sunshine. There followed a whole month of dry weather, and the relieved vignerons were able to bring in their harvest without feeling a drop of rain - not a common occurrence.

The crop was a large one, and broadly successful, although the quality is never as uniform as vintage reports such as these can sometimes suggest. Those that harvested later were more likely to benefit from the favourable weather in late September and early October, and terroir, yields, selection and other variables all play a part. Nevertheless the must weights, which reflect the amount of sugar in the harvested berries and thus give an indication of the ripeness of the fruit, were above average, although not up to the level of 1982. Nevertheless the consensus of opinion by those not blinkered by the wines of the preceding vintage was that Margaux was the main beneficiary of this year's excellent weather. Nevertheless, a number of chateaux from more northerly communes, particularly St Julien and Pauillac - especially the first growths and super-second property of Pichon-Lalande - also turned out very good wines. The same can be said of Graves and the right bank communes of St Emilion and Pomerol.

As for Sauternes, a commune that had not fared well with the otherwise successful 1982 vintage, there was much more to celebrate this year. The August humidity fostered some grey rot, but the dry weather later on saw the development of good botrytis, albeit rather slowly. As with the red wines, those vignerons with the courage to wait reaped appropriate rewards, and some estates were still bringing in botrytis-rich fruit in November. This would appear to be, for these wines, the best vintage since 1975. (7/11/00, updated 10/8/08)