1983 Château Palmer Margaux Bordeaux France Wine Tasting Note
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The perfume is packed with Cuban cigars, smoke, licorice, blackberries and roses. The palate is equal to the nose with its waves of concentrated black fruits, spice, tobacco, cocoa, and touch of marine influences on the elegant, refined backend. No decanting needed. Drink from 2024-2040. 1,089 Views Tasted Dec 21, 2024Fully-mature, the nose, with its floral center was just great. Once past the initial nuances of red and purple flowers, you found a wealth of cigar box, tobacco leaf, and forest floor nose. Rich, full, long, and fresh, the finish, with its silky, supple textured, sweet, ripe, red fruits hit all the right notes. 3,240 Views Tasted Jul 3, 2022Drinking at peak maturity, everything is just great. The perfume, with its tobacco, roses, cedar, wet earth and cherries grabs you. On the palate, the wine is pure silk with no hard edges. This is effortless to drink. Splash decanting is all you need, this is fully developed. 3,410 Views Tasted May 16, 2021Refined, pure, elegant, fresh, concentrated, rich and vibrant, the aromatics, with their flowery leaning also provides a basket of earthy red fruits, spicy notes and tobacco. The silky finish wraps everything up nicely. It is impossible not to take sip after sip of this nectar. The only issue with this beauty is that the wine is finished long before you are ready! 4,958 Views Tasted Jan 12, 2020This is a superb wine. Elegant, silky, refined and sensuous, the wine hits the trifecta, it smells, feels and tastes great. There is not a hair out of place. Although, this bottle seemed a little less generous than other recently tasted bottles. This is clearly in its prime time drinking window. Will it improve? Maybe. But the risks outweigh the rewards, so if you have a bottle, pop that cork! 5,186 Views Tasted Mar 9, 2019Picture your glass packed with incense, flowers, tobacco and sweet cherries about to be swirled and you get the idea on the aromatics. Silky soft, polished tannins and earthy sweet, ripe, dark red fruits round out the experience. A splash decanting was all this beauty needed to get going. 4,610 Views Tasted Nov 8, 2017This is a stunning tasting experience that brings together concentration, complexity, sensuous, silky textures, complex aromatics and the ability to continue to age and improve for at least 2 more decades, if well stored. It's the wine of the vintage. An hour in the decanter really helps the experience. 6,569 Views Tasted Apr 2, 2016What a beauty. Grab a handful of silk, a portion of velvet, mix it with perfectly ripe plums, cherries, cassis and blackberry, toss in some truffle, tobacco and smoky cocoa, blend it all together and viola, you have an idea about 1983 Palmer. The wine was made from a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. The harvest took place from September 28 to October 13. 6,440 Views Tasted May 12, 2015Pure silk and velvet in texture, there are no hard edges, rough patches or missing links, this is intense pleasure from start to finish. Drinking great today, it's only going to get better and better! 7,286 Views Tasted Jul 14, 2014Talk about all the right stuff, the wine is pure silk and velvet with an intoxicating perfume of caramel, spearmint, ripe blackberries, flowers, truffle and cigar box. The opulent textures make up reach for the bottle to refill your glass. But don't rush it, as it gets better in the glass. While this is pricey, for a mature Bordeaux, it's one of the top choices for quality and price. If you want to know why people go crazy for older Bordeaux, or you already know and just want a special bottle, this is one of the top wines in the market today. 6,574 Views Tasted Aug 15, 2013It's always disappointing when a wine you know normally offers thrills and chills takes a turn in the wrong direction. Keep in mind, every bottle is different, especially when a wine is in its 3rd decade of life. This particular bottle smelt and tasted unclean. There were marked dirty scents along with the tobacco, earth and blackberry notes. The wine did not show its normally, opulent nature and instead tasted far too earthy. My guess is, this bottle was not stored correctly at some point in its life, and while a nice Bordeaux, it was not a great tasting experience. However, do not let this note dissuade you from this wine, which is normally a stellar vintage of Palmer. 7,342 Views Tasted Aug 28, 2012Violets, cassis, truffle, earth, spice and Cuban cigar aromas fill your glass. Pure silk and velvet in the mouth, this sensuous, seductive wine is what great Bordeaux is all about. The wine fills your mouth and coats your palate with layers of deep, suave, elegant, pure sensations of plums, cassis and blackberry. This is drinking great today and time will continue being good to this special Margaux as well. It should continue getting better for decades. 10,310 Views Tasted May 15, 2011This still looks young! Cassis, dark berries, flowers, coffee and five spice aromas put the spring in the aromatics step. Full bodied and packed with layers of silky, elegant, ripe fruit. The tannins are ripe and round. The long finish fills your mouth with purity, intensity of flavor, velvet laced textures, freshness and balance. This stunning Bordeaux wine ends with a long, ripe, plush, fresh blackberry filled finish. This special wine keeps getting better every time I taste it. Still young, this will age and improve for decades. 12,012 Views Tasted Jun 13, 2010Aromatics filled with deep black cherry and black raspberry fruits, orange rind, flowers, spice and cassis introduced you to the wine. The wine flows like pure velvet. This is deep and concentrated, as well as elegant , round and refined. Few wines express elegance married to power as well as the 83 Palmer. 7,962 Views Tasted Nov 15, 2009Truffle's, smoke, olives, pipe tobacco, earth and flowers are what the taster first notices. Very long and intense. This full bodied, concentrated, elegant, polished wine finishes with soft, chocolate covered, blackberries. 6,948 Views Tasted Jun 30, 2009If I could use only one descriptor, "stunning" expresses how great this wine is. The perfume shoots from the glass like a bullet from a gun. Flowers, cassis, earth, truffles fresh black fruit with spices are only the introduction to this wines ample charms. In the mouth, pure silk, satin, velvet and enough verve to give it lift. The long, fruit filled seamless finish is pure pleasure for the senses. Still young at close at over 25 years of age, this sublime wine will improve and offer amazing pleasure for decades. Keep in mind, this bottle was popped and poured from the cellar. With some air, this 5,935 Views Tasted Dec 10, 2008This cassis, earth and floral scented wine is a wonderful example of Margaux and mature Bordeaux. Very elegant in the mouth. This is at a great place, and it's only going to improve from here. It's odd that a wine this good with 25 years of age sells for about the same price as the 05! Markets move in mysterious ways 5,157 Views Tasted Jul 1, 2008A flashy array of black fruit, wet earth, coffee and a variety of spices explodes from the glass. Elegant, very sophisticated and sexy style of wine. Extremely concentrated with ripe fruit and a boatload of glycerin. As good as it was, it will still improve! 5,566 Views Tasted Feb 17, 2007The wine's aromatics explode from the glass. Black fruits, cassis, spices, cedar wood, floral and earth were in full force. Over the last few years, this has put on weight and rounded out. The multiple layers of perfectly silky fruit that cascade over your palate in wave after wave of plush textures is what great Bordeaux is all about. 5,310 Views Tasted Jan 15, 2006Ruby with some bricking. Notes of cedar, black cherry, cassis, earth, spice, cinnamon and cloves. Full bodied with some tannin to resolve. On the palate a rich display of plums and black fruit. The texture is pure silk. The 83 Palmer is one of the most elegant wines I've tasted in ages. 5,201 Views Tasted May 12, 2005Sweet black fruit, tobacco & cedar notes filled the air. Full bodied, elegant and graceful. Cherries and assorted red and black fruits caressed your palate. Rich, soft, silky and sexy is a great description for this stunning wine. 5,487 Views Tasted Jan 12, 2004 |

When to Drink Chateau Palmer, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time
Chateau Palmer is not a wine for drinking young. The wine can be tannic, concentrated and reserved, in its youth. Young vintages can be decanted for an average of 2-4 hours, give or take. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume.
Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment. Chateau Palmer is usually better with at least 12-15 years of bottle age. Of course, that can vary slightly, depending on the vintage character. Chateau Palmer offers its best drinking and should reach peak maturity between 15-45 years of age after the vintage.
Serving Chateau Palmer with Wine, Food, Pairings
Chateau Palmer is best served at 15.5 degrees Celsius, 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift.
Chateau Palmer is best paired with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised, and grilled dishes. Chateau Palmer is also good when matched with Asian dishes, rich fish courses like tuna, mushrooms, and pasta.