Winemaker Notes
An attractively intense purple with a slightly brickish tint, the wine displays a refined, fresh and richly aromatic nose which combines aromas of spice, cocoa, caramel and coffee grounds with a touch of mint. The attack is smooth and rich, with patrician, silky tannins enfolded in a host of diverse flavors: black fruit, incense, cedarwood and blond tobacco, together with some peppery notes. The vintage is remarkable for its concentrated fruit and beautiful balance, showing length, ample body and fullness of flavor.
Blend: 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Super-refined 1983 Bordeaux with an excellent deep ruby color and intense cigar-box, plum and berry aromas and flavors; there's even a hint of mint. It's full-bodied but very reserved in style with fine tannins and a seductively long finish. Better after 1997.
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James Suckling
This is a forgotten vintage for Mouton. There are pretty aromas of sweet Thai basil along with Asian plums. Full, soft and fruity. You might say it's almost jammy – but it's also so round and gorgeous. Love it now.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The classic Mouton lead-pencil, cedary nose has begun to emerge. This medium dark ruby, elegant, medium-bodied wine will never be a great or legendary Mouton. The flavors are ripe and moderately rich. With good depth and some firm tannins to resolve, this offering from Mouton is bigger and richer than the 1981, 1979, or 1978. Austere by the standards of Mouton and the vintage, the 1983 resembles the chateau's fine 1966.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
The leader on the Left Bank in number of first growth classified producers within its boundaries, Pauillac has more than any of the other appellations, at three of the five. Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Mouton Rothschild border St. Estephe on its northern end and Chateau Latour is at Pauillac’s southern end, bordering St. Julien.
While the first growths are certainly some of the better producers of the Left Bank, today they often compete with some of the “lower ranked” producers (second, third, fourth, fifth growth) in quality and value. The Left Bank of Bordeaux subscribes to an arguably outdated method of classification that goes back to 1855. The finest chateaux in that year were judged on the basis of reputation and trading price; changes in rank since then have been miniscule at best. Today producers such as Chateau Pontet-Canet, Chateau Grand Puy-Lacoste, Chateau Lynch-Bages, among others (all fifth growth) offer some of the most outstanding wines in all of Bordeaux.
Defining characteristics of fine wines from Pauillac (i.e. Cabernet-based Bordeaux Blends) include inky and juicy blackcurrant, cedar or cigar box and plush or chalky tannins.
Layers of gravel in the Pauillac region are key to its wines’ character and quality. The layers offer excellent drainage in the relatively flat topography of the region allowing water to run off into “jalles” or streams, which subsequently flow off into the Gironde.