Wine Advisor
Pichon Lalande 1983
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Consistently one of the great wines of the 1983 vintage, as well as one of my personal favorites, this beautiful wine has been gorgeous to drink since bottling. It displays no signs of evolution, although it remains undeniably rich, seductive, and compelling. Deep dark ruby-colored, with a huge nose of Asian spices, blackcurrants, plums, and flowers, this super-concentrated, velvety-textured wine reveals gobs of rich, creamy fruit. It can be drunk now or cellared for 15-20 years. It is Pauillac at its most decadent and seductive! Last tasted, 7/93.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Last Tasted 8/92 Close to being fully mature, the 1983 Pichon Lalande continues to offer persuasive evidence that it is one of the great wines of the vintage. The color is an impressive opaque dark ruby with only a hint of amber at the edge. The powerful nose of jammy blackcurrants, cedar, and roasted herbs is followed by a broad-shouldered style of Pichon, with superb concentration, soft tannins, below average acidity, and a spectacularly rich, explosive finish. The 1983 is considerably richer and fuller than the 1985, 1988, 1989, and 1990. Drink it over the next 10-15 years.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the Fine Wine Experience’s Pichon-Lalande vertical in London. The 1983 Pichon Lalande has a deep mahogany/garnet core with tawny rim. At first acquaintance it seems rather disjointed, but then the bouquet gains more harmony with aeration, leafy with tobacco, burnt toast and dried orange peel. The palate is medium-bodied, very well balanced with good weight and harmony. Savoury fruits, red cherry, dried herbs, a citrus edge with good length on the sedate, refined finish. A lovely 1983 although it is probably just past its peak now. Drink now-2020. Tasted December 2008.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
A deep garnet core with deep brick rim. A knockout nose of fresh blackberry, chestnuts and roasted herbs. Open and expressive. The palate is fully mature with abundant sweet red fruits, pain grille, Provencal herbs. Very Merlot dominated. Beautiful balance and length; with a similar savoury mouthfeel to Cheval Blanc 1983. Stunning. Drunk on my first date with my eventual wife. Tasted April 2002.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Two bottles were recently tasted, indicating that after a glorious career, this Pauillac is on a gentle slippery slope. The first was light and leafy on the nose, seeming to have lost some of its vigour that it demonstrated a decade ago, and that was replicated on the palate. It is still well balanced, but there is now an elegiac quality emanating from this wine, a sense that it is running out of steam. Still enjoyable, but it would pale against the 1982 or 1985. Tasted April 2012.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
A stunning wine, Pichon-Lalande's 1983 has been gorgeous to drink for a number of years. It is one of the finest 1983s, especially for a northern Medoc. The color remains a dark ruby/purple, with slight lightening at the edge. The knock-out nose of roasted herbs, sweet, jammy black currants, and pain grille is followed by a full-bodied, gorgeously concentrated and well-proportioned wine with low acidity, plenty of glycerin, and a savory, highly extracted, fleshy mouthfeel. This has always been one of the stars of the vintage. Anticipated maturity: Now-2008. Last tasted 6/97
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted single blind at the Fine Wine Experience horizontal in London. At first, the nose seems rather facile, but left two or three minutes in the glass it develops that lovely savoury, meaty character that just soars from the glass. Autumn leaves, sous-bois and a touch of tar but then they seem to subside with another 30 minutes in the glass to reveal a stunning chocolate-tinged, minty bouquet. The palate is medium-bodied, smooth and sensuous on the entry with some lovely ripe Merlot here. Good acidity, beautiful balance, this Pauillac just slips down the throat too easily. Touches of sour cherry, mocha and raspberry towards the finish. Great length. Beautiful wine. Tasted October 2008.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
This wine seems to be just beginning to turn the corner and was excellent in its most recent tasting. For much of its life it has been a stunning wine, not far off the mark from the prodigious 1982. The color is still a healthy dark garnet with some amber creeping in at the edge. The wine shows a very distinctive nose of asphalt, tobacco, and cigar box, intermixed with some sweet cherries and black currants. In the mouth it is medium to full-bodied, but the fruit seems to be ever-so-slightly fading. In the finish, the tannins and acidity are beginning to poke through. Nevertheless, this is still underrated and always a sleeper vintage for Pichon-Lalande, but it requires consumption. Anticipated maturity: Now. Last tasted, 9/02.
About the Producer
Pichon Lalande is arguably the best known Super Second Pauillac for its quality consistency and quintessential Bordeaux claret expression. Neighbouring Chateau Latour and lying just right opposite Chateau Pichon Baron, Pichon Lalande, as its name suggests, has long seen extended female owner influence since the 1850s. Back in the 1850s, the original Pichon Lalande got broken down into two-fifth being renamed as Pichon Baron and three-fifth remaining as Pichon Lalande upon the passing of Baron Joseph de Pichon Longueville. The three-fifth was run by the three daughters of the Baron himself and over the course of a few years, Pichon Baron and Pichon Lalande took on distinctive styles - with the former being more a masculine expression and the latter, feminine. Female ownership and influence continued, with little interruption, till the modern days. Pichon Lalande's string of female leaders have contributed to the continuous modernization of Pichon Lalande's vineyards and cellars; as well as the doubling of vineyard area during the 1970s - 90s. Today, Pichon Lalande's feminine expression continues to prevail - whilst the team is placed under the leadership of a former opera singer turned winemaker gentleman named Nicolas Glumineau. Conversion to biodynamic viticulture (fully by year 2021), continuous investments in precision winemaking facilities see Pichon Lalande continue to be revered among leading critics. Pichon Lalande is planted to 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. It is the predominant Cabernet Sauvignon presence in Pichon Lalande's wines that make this wine such a capable representation of Pauillac's deep gravelly terroir.
1928(1)1970(1)1979(1)1981(1)1982(4)
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