Bordeaux 1983 versus 1982: Top Left Bank wines re-tasted

It’s one thing to hold up the 1982 as one of the most iconic vintages of all time. But it’s infinitely more interesting to test out how it has held up next to wines that are one year younger from the same estates. And from a vintage which, at least in pockets, has been called out as an equal to, or even a better version of, its iconic stable mate.

In this tasting, held at private members’ club 67 Pall Mall, I chose to focus on five Left Bank wines from all four of the main communal appellations in the Médoc, so Châteaux Palmer, Margaux, Pichon Comtesse, Montrose and Léoville Las Cases.

I picked two from the Margaux appellation because it seemed too good an opportunity to miss to retry two particularly legendary 1983s.

Scroll down for Anson’s top Bordeaux 1982 and 1983 wines

If we had been focusing only on the 1982 vintage we could easily have had Right Banks (Christian Moueix says even today that 1982 is the easiest he has ever had to harvest), but 1983 was a tougher vintage over there because there was rain until the 3^rd week of September in Pomerol, and the Merlot grape suffered as a result.We know of course, that 1982 was a year that was kind to winemakers weather-wise. But that doesn’t mean that things were easy for them. For a start, this was an extremely warm year, with record high sugar levels, and yet there was very little temperature control in the vat rooms.

Corinne Menzelopoulos at Châteaux Margaux remembers her consultant Emile Peynaud calling to ask if she would purchase a £20,000 cooling pump because the weather was so hot that he was worried about bacterial spoilage.

This was just two years into her time heading up the estate, and investment was still to be carefully considered. She asked Peynaud if he would spend that kind of sum if it was his money and he was forced to answer, ‘ummm…. no’. The cooling pump went unbought, but she did order a ton of ice to arrive from Bordeaux restaurants, as did many neighbouring estates.

Size and ownership of the estates tasted

Châteaux Palmer

• 1980s 45ha planted
• Today 66ha planted
• Owner 1980s Mahler-Bësse/Sichel
• Owner today Mahler-Bësse/ Sichel

Châteaux Margaux

• 1980s 90ha planted
• Today 87ha planted
• Owner 1980s Menzelopoulos/Agnelli
• Owner today Menzelopoulos

Châteaux Pichon Comtesse

• 1980s 75ha planted
• Today 74ha planted
• Owner 1980s De Lencquesaing
• Owner today Champagne Roederer

Châteaux Montrose

• 1980s 68ha planted
• Today 95ha planted
• Owner 1980s Charmolüe
• Owner today Bouygues

Châteaux Léoville Las Cases

• 1980s 97ha planted
• Today 98ha planted
• Owner 1980s Delon
• Owner today Delon

And then there were the huge yields. The average yield in 1982 was 60hl/h, and just a little over that in 1983 (levels that would not be allowable in these AOCs today). They were fertilizing the soils more at this point, actively thinking about big yields, with very little or no green harvest over on the Left Bank at the time, and far less grape sorting than today, because there were rarely 2^nd wines at the time (Pavillon Rouge had returned in 1977 after a long break, and others arrived later in the decade, such as La Dame de Montrose in 1986). It meant that for both vintages, but particularly 1983, there was huge pressure on the vats, with Merlot being moved out into barrel as soon as possible to make way for Cabernet Sauvignon.

Coopers could barely keep up with demand for barrels. Most barrels at the time were ordered in Spring, and there was a big rush to order more in September, with many estates unable to get what they needed. Léoville Las Cases remembers that from 1983 right through until 2000 they ordered 150 to 200 barrels more than necessary just in case it happened again. They also not coincidentally added an extension to the vat house in 1984.

And yet, even with all of this, we know the results. 1982 has been written about time and time again, so I will just point out here that – contrary to what is sometimes believed – the vast majority of observers recognised how good 1982 was at the time. The local newspaper in Bordeaux was running stories in September 1982 suggesting it was an exceptional year even before the grapes came in.

But what is certainly true is that the Europeans were put off buying because of the price. Almost all of the top Bordeaux came out at practically double the price they had been in 1981 (the First Growths were at 180 francs), and it was this that gave the Americans such a huge opportunity. The exchange rate was 6 francs to one dollar at the time (today it is 1 euro to 1.13 dollars). First growths came out at 180 francs for the 1982 vintage which put off European buyers, but for Americans it was a bargain, and pretty much irresistible (especially when put together with the Wall St boom, the explosion in restaurants, food and wine magazines and business travel).

And finally, before we look at the results, why was 1983 so good in Margaux? The main reason is that the rains that fell intermittently elsewhere left Margaux alone. As Palmer puts it, ‘The weather, right on time. In 1983, every stage of the vines’ development was accompanied by perfect weather: warm and dry in June for the flowering, heatwave temperatures in early summer as ripening began, warm and dry again in September as the grapes reached perfect ripeness. All of which created high sugar levels – comparable to 1982 – and extremely ripe tannins’.

The New York Times, by the way, reported that the wine trade wasn’t happy with the 1983 being so great, because it was still ‘hip deep’ (Frank Prial’s words in 1984) in 1982, 1981, 1980, 1979 and a few cases of 1978. ‘The last thing anybody wanted was another good year. They got it anyway’.

See Anson’s top Bordeaux 1982 and 1983 wines from this tasting

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