I wanted to find a birthyear bottle to celebrate a somewhat significant career event that I am about to have. Question is, which ones would you recommend?
First I thought of Champagne, obviously. Another option would be Sauternes, where apparently 1983 was one of the best vintages for those wines in that region ever.
Some great Bordeaux eg Palmer, Ch.Margaux, Evangile, Lafleur, Haut-Brion + LMHB, even Brane-Cantenac …
also CdPape like Vieux Telegraph, Pegau, Bonneau, Clos des Papes, Fortia, Rayas, Beaucastel …
Chave Hermitage, Rostaing La Landonne, Jamet C.brune …
bottle condition is crucial as always …
Besides the Bordeaux mentioned here '83 is one of my favorite vintages of Cheval Blanc. 83 Pichon Lalande is quite elegant. Also, besides Palmer and Margaux, as a whole I think the Margaux AC did as well/better than '82, I’ve always thought Ruasan Segla was a good value play.
Hard to find, but also a great dry Bdx vintage- I’ve had excellent bottles of LavilleHB and DDC.
Besides Prum and von Schubert, I’ve had really good bottles of Fritz Haag and even von Hovel (not usually a fave).
Good N/ Rhone possibilities as well
I second the 83 Cheval Blanc suggestion. Fabulous wine. I also love the LMHB, but it’s a different type of wine - still drinks so young. Cheval closer to maturity imho.
My birthyear as well and it’s a sneaky good one. Some of the best have been mentioned–Margaux gets the most press, but Germany is wonderful and there are nice bottles in a lot of regions.
83 has aged gracefully and can reward you with beauty these days. Obviously, once you get to 40+ years of age, you gotta have a back up. Not all bottles will perform. In addition to those already mentioned (Margaux!!) I’ve recently had and loved Gruaud, La Louviere, and Rauzan-Segla
What estates are you thinking about. I agree with you that from a weather point of view Margaux was particularly favored in 1983, but I was a bit surprised by your comment because I seem to recollect that some famous Margaux estates making excellent wine now seemed were underperforming generally at the time. Am I not right about this or are you thinking about a number of Margauxs that made wonderful 1983s.