1983 Chateau Margaux and Lafite

[andrawes76]

Got married last Wednesday and we decided to party like its 1999 on Friday. Stacey's dad whipped out the good stuff from his cellar. Check out my posts on the port, and Yquem. Anyways the 83 Margaux was just amazing. It was definitely ready to drink and showed the classic rich ruby red color and exotic floral bouquet. Cassis and blackberry engulfed in silky smooth tannins. I almost ran away with the bottle and hid in the bushes. After the Margaux, we opened up the '83 Lafite. While entertaining, it was a bit closed off and I certainly tasted a bit of funk in the finish which made it the runner up on the two. It was my first bottle of Lafite so cannot fairly compare it to other vintages.

[wondersofwine]

Again, congratulations on the nuptials (and on having a father-in-law with a deep cellar.) I'm still holding on to my one bottle of Lafite from the 90's. It's from a so-so vintage, but I wanted to experience a first growth with more than just a sip or two at a tasting. Waiting for the right occasion and friends to open it.

[hotwine]

Congrats, PW! May all of your troubles be little ones!

Have only had Lafite a couple of times - at a restaurant in '75, shared with another couple, while courting D (spectacular! Or maybe it was just her huge blue eyes...); food was chateaubriand. Then there was the '80 I bought while visiting Wiesbaden on business in '85 or '86... we drank it in '99 with steaks and it was wonderful, in spite of me punching its fragmented cork down into the bottle and having to strain the wine through a (clean) bandana (blame my bad storage). The restaurant price in '75 was $100, vintage was '61 (I think); price of the '80 was $54 and still have that bottle. There was another super Bordeaux with escargots at La Forgot in Nha Trang RVN in '67 with three other LTs, but don't recall specifics.... just that it was a really nice bottle. Point being that memorable Bordeaux will be stuck in your head forever.

Again, hearty congrats!

[winoweenie]

Welcome to the club of the "yes-Dears". The 83 Margaux was the wine of the vintage and was largely overlooked following the "Vintage of the Century" 82s. Had a box and drank 1/2 of them in the 90s' before having to sell half my cellar I left in Denver on my move here. This was killer juice. The Lafite wasn't as successful as their kick-patootie 82 and I've only had 2 bottles of it and was never really a fan of this bottling. Now get back to work and make that lil' darlin' some green. WW

[Thomas]

You are lucky.

I tried it twice, and in neither case did I get a wife whose father had an extensive wine cellar...

[Innkeeper]

I think marrying into wine is even better than marrying into money. Regardless, a hearty congratulations to you and Stacey.

[andrawes76]

Thanks guys. I wish I had a never ending supply of first growth wines and a liver-on-call. Must be nice to be Parker or Suckling, but I'm a happy guy. Fortunately my lady is not too expensive and loves to drink value vs. name. A wise man just told me "when you get married, your wife will make all the small decisions and you'll make the big ones... And you'll never make a big decision"

[TheEngineer]

what an enjoyable thread to read. Congrats PW! nice catch with the father in law, ... err... I mean the spouse [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]