20 Top Wines of the 1983 Vintage: Dominus vs Opus 1983. The Dominus (93pts) is as Bordeaux-esque as a wine can be, though it is not showing that much complexity. Nevertheless, its debut vintage is noteworthy, especially considering 1983’s challenges in Napa Valley. The Opus (90pts) couldn‘t hide the difficult vintage that well, showing a bit simple, albeit without fault.
TN: The nose was muted and even with air didn’t display much. A bit more open on the palate some faint fruit notes, a bit of earthy minerality, but without much depth or anything exciting. Still intact structural frame, good freshness but with a rather short finish. Not a bad wine, but nothing to write home about either. 89/90pts
Decanting: Double decanted a few hours before consumption. Maybe more air would have unlocked a bit more aromas. I would try it with two+ hours in a decanter.
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1983 vintage horizontal with >20 wines, mostly from Bordeaux. Key observations: 1/ Acceptable vintage for Champagne with DP over-delivering, 2/ Laville Haut Brion is a masterpiece among the whites, 3/ Bordeaux is going strong at 40 years of age with stand-outs Latour and Margaux. 4/ No need to chase any Napa’s from the vintage, 5/ off-piste Italians kept up impressively with Soldera an undisputed medalist.
Tasting note: Double-decanted. Lots of earthy notes, a restrained dark cherry fruit as well as a bit of confit. But also petrol and vegetal notes. On the palate adding darker mineral notes. Tannin still rather mouthcoating, otherswise decent balance and sufficient fruit. Good, but bested by the Dominus ’83.
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I've drank 4.5 out of 6 bottles that I acquired on auction with a very reputable company. I've noted a fair amount of bottle variation but not drastic. This is definitely wine that is past its peak, but I still enjoy it and I still find it notably Opus for a domestic. Would I buy it again? No. Am I happy to have had the opportunity to drink it? Yes. Can it be improved? Yes. Just add about 1 parts 10-15 year old left bank Bordeaux to 2 parts Opus and it's unique and readily holds up well to a nice filet mignon. Don't let an old wine that you think is weak cause you to cast it aside! Give it some life with something else you like, experiment a little. Have fun!
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From some of the other notes, I think there must be bottle variation. I bought several bottles of this on release. The last one I had was 2 years ago and I thought it was beginning to decline but still OK. I just had my last bottle and thought it was really nice. Fully resolved tannins but still good undercurrent of fruit. Medium complexity and lingering. Drink up!
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Vertical tasting with Lee and Lisa - '82, '83 and '90. 80's wines decanted and then '90 opened - so it was a little behind at first tasting. '83 a big hit with the girls early on - I enjoyed the '82 - but the '90 was the wine of the night eventually. Drink the 80's now - the '90 could probably still age further comfortably. A special tasting with aged porterhouse from the grill, sauteed mushrooms, white bean salad and a composed green salad.
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Still good, but starting to slip. Lighter in color than expected....clear cherry. Not the high tannin, chewy bordeaux-style blend we were looking for. It may border on heresy, but this one actually came closer to a biurgundy than a bordeaux. We enjoyed the wine and it continued to develop nicely (somewhat to our surprise) after decanting and later in the glass.
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Aged Opus. The color was not that old at all. Clean and very classy nose with light red fruits, fresh mineral. A little touch of tannin. The fruits has weakened quite a bit and the acidity was high. Hey Hey Hey, this is a good wine.
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Very lucky that my brother has many old vintage of this wine. IMO, it's getting better after 20 years. I love 1980 ( 91/100 ) testing last few years and 1981( 92/100 ) testing last few months. Even 1993 is now just start ready to drink.
Opus One 1983 has no sign of weakness. It's now very fine. Maybe not from the better vintages like 1980 or 1981, the wine shows smooth scent of oak, some friut still, clean, deep, herb and mineral. Medium-bodied, good acidity, fresh, lively, full-filled my imagination. Nice aftertaste too.
Fine wine !!!
Drink it now - 2010
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Relatively light sediment. Bright disc. Light-to-medium orange-brown robe with orange rim. Clean nose showing moderately intense cigar, cedar, plum and cherry. Virtually no tannins left. Light-to-medium bodied palate, with similar flavors as nose. Medium, soft finish. Quite pleasant but relatively light and clearly not going to get better. Drink up.
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Tasted at Brasserie (birthday). Similar impression as 11/11/95, but with slightly more fruit and complexity. In contrast to 11/11/95, this bottle shows better than the 1981 (which was tasted concurrently on both occasions).
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Tasted at Brasserie. Medium ruby with brick rim. Modest cedar and spice on nose. Medium to light body, with relatively simple spice, cedar and light berry flavors on palate. Short finish. Pleasant, but would expect more from a wine this expensive. Likely at plateau.
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Opus One Tasting at Opus (Napa): At Opus, nose of angular fruit, big body, slightly harsh tannins, briary taste, mouth filling, nice fruit but needs time, hopefully fruit outlasts the large amount of harsh tannins, medium/long finish.
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With Michael Lehmann at his house. Nice ruby color. Lean and austere in the nose, but with good varietal character, with some complexity. In the mouth, still very tannic, with underlying fruit. Austere and lean, but good for the vintage. 5–11–15-7: 88/100.
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12/31/2023 - Cailles wrote: 90 Points
20 Top Wines of the 1983 Vintage: Dominus vs Opus 1983. The Dominus (93pts) is as Bordeaux-esque as a wine can be, though it is not showing that much complexity. Nevertheless, its debut vintage is noteworthy, especially considering 1983’s challenges in Napa Valley. The Opus (90pts) couldn‘t hide the difficult vintage that well, showing a bit simple, albeit without fault.
TN: The nose was muted and even with air didn’t display much. A bit more open on the palate some faint fruit notes, a bit of earthy minerality, but without much depth or anything exciting. Still intact structural frame, good freshness but with a rather short finish. Not a bad wine, but nothing to write home about either. 89/90pts
Decanting: Double decanted a few hours before consumption. Maybe more air would have unlocked a bit more aromas. I would try it with two+ hours in a decanter.
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11/25/2023 - G_H wrote: 89 Points
40 years on: A global 1983 retrospective: This had a bit of a tough standing, given how well the bordeaux served previously showed.
A bit muted, slightly vegetal with a bit of fruit left. Perfectly pleasant but nex to the other wines it wasn't fun to drink.
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11/25/2023 - sirpat00 wrote: 90 Points
1983 vintage horizontal with >20 wines, mostly from Bordeaux. Key observations: 1/ Acceptable vintage for Champagne with DP over-delivering, 2/ Laville Haut Brion is a masterpiece among the whites, 3/ Bordeaux is going strong at 40 years of age with stand-outs Latour and Margaux. 4/ No need to chase any Napa’s from the vintage, 5/ off-piste Italians kept up impressively with Soldera an undisputed medalist.
Tasting note:
Double-decanted. Lots of earthy notes, a restrained dark cherry fruit as well as a bit of confit. But also petrol and vegetal notes. On the palate adding darker mineral notes. Tannin still rather mouthcoating, otherswise decent balance and sufficient fruit. Good, but bested by the Dominus ’83.
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5/18/2018 - WineGoblin Likes this wine: 90 Points
I've drank 4.5 out of 6 bottles that I acquired on auction with a very reputable company. I've noted a fair amount of bottle variation but not drastic. This is definitely wine that is past its peak, but I still enjoy it and I still find it notably Opus for a domestic. Would I buy it again? No. Am I happy to have had the opportunity to drink it? Yes. Can it be improved? Yes. Just add about 1 parts 10-15 year old left bank Bordeaux to 2 parts Opus and it's unique and readily holds up well to a nice filet mignon. Don't let an old wine that you think is weak cause you to cast it aside! Give it some life with something else you like, experiment a little. Have fun!
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3/4/2018 - jgh123 Likes this wine: 93 Points
From some of the other notes, I think there must be bottle variation. I bought several bottles of this on release. The last one I had was 2 years ago and I thought it was beginning to decline but still OK. I just had my last bottle and thought it was really nice. Fully resolved tannins but still good undercurrent of fruit. Medium complexity and lingering. Drink up!
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7/28/2017 - kristenwile Likes this wine: 89 Points
Certainly past its peak, but this wine held up better than I thought it would. Notes of cedar; rounded edges.
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5/3/2017 - Doughg Does not like this wine: 80 Points
Disappoint. Many much better years.
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6/27/2015 - yofog wrote:
Total disaster of a wine. Good grief. Bitter, weak, and tasting of tomatoes and vegetable stock. Just a crappy wine.
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5/29/2015 - canan wrote: 92 Points
Melville Clone Tasting AND pre-2000 California Cabernet: Light and elegant black currant fruit with a fair amount of acidity to balance things out.
It is a good wine but I had expected more intensity and complexity.
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10/1/2014 - slywka7 wrote: 89 Points
Bordeaux, Aged Cali Cabs and Burgundy with the Benchmark Wine Group in Port Chester (Il Sogno, Port Chester, NY): Kind of similar to the 1982 but slightly better. Tad more substance at this point but not going to blow you away with it's opulence or structure at this point in it's life. All things considered not a bad wine though.
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5/2/2013 - ricegpa wrote:
Pierre's birthday in Montreal
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4/10/2012 - Walkerjc10 wrote: flawed
awful
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1/2/2010 - eastover wrote:
Vertical tasting with Lee and Lisa - '82, '83 and '90. 80's wines decanted and then '90 opened - so it was a little behind at first tasting. '83 a big hit with the girls early on - I enjoyed the '82 - but the '90 was the wine of the night eventually. Drink the 80's now - the '90 could probably still age further comfortably. A special tasting with aged porterhouse from the grill, sauteed mushrooms, white bean salad and a composed green salad.
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12/20/2009 - SteveC wrote: 82 Points
Over the hill and sliding down. It's way past it's prime drink up if you have any left.
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2/1/2009 - larryw wrote: 88 Points
Still good, but starting to slip. Lighter in color than expected....clear cherry. Not the high tannin, chewy bordeaux-style blend we were looking for. It may border on heresy, but this one actually came closer to a biurgundy than a bordeaux. We enjoyed the wine and it continued to develop nicely (somewhat to our surprise) after decanting and later in the glass.
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9/19/2008 - loverboy wrote: 89 Points
Aged Opus. The color was not that old at all. Clean and very classy nose with light red fruits, fresh mineral. A little touch of tannin. The fruits has weakened quite a bit and the acidity was high. Hey Hey Hey, this is a good wine.
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12/22/2007 - noppakit s. wrote: 90 Points
Very lucky that my brother has many old vintage of this wine. IMO, it's getting better after 20 years. I love 1980 ( 91/100 ) testing last few years and 1981( 92/100 ) testing last few months. Even 1993 is now just start ready to drink.
Opus One 1983 has no sign of weakness. It's now very fine. Maybe not from the better vintages like 1980 or 1981, the wine shows smooth scent of oak, some friut still, clean, deep, herb and mineral. Medium-bodied, good acidity, fresh, lively, full-filled my imagination. Nice aftertaste too.
Fine wine !!!
Drink it now - 2010
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1/15/2005 - lainsworth wrote:
The wine tasted great after Decanting at Pere Chanti's. The cork was soft. After about an hour, I felt the wine was loosing it's bounch and fruit.
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6/9/2002 - La Cave d'Argent wrote: 84 Points
Relatively light sediment. Bright disc. Light-to-medium orange-brown robe with orange rim. Clean nose showing moderately intense cigar, cedar, plum and cherry. Virtually no tannins left. Light-to-medium bodied palate, with similar flavors as nose. Medium, soft finish. Quite pleasant but relatively light and clearly not going to get better. Drink up.
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12/16/1995 - La Cave d'Argent wrote: 89 Points
Tasted at Brasserie (birthday). Similar impression as 11/11/95, but with slightly more fruit and complexity. In contrast to 11/11/95, this bottle shows better than the 1981 (which was tasted concurrently on both occasions).
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11/11/1995 - La Cave d'Argent wrote: 87 Points
Tasted at Brasserie. Medium ruby with brick rim. Modest cedar and spice on nose. Medium to light body, with relatively simple spice, cedar and light berry flavors on palate. Short finish. Pleasant, but would expect more from a wine this expensive. Likely at plateau.
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12/26/1992 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 90 Points
CHAMPAGNE FIRST FLIGHT, MONDAVI AND OPUS ONE SECOND FLIGHT (Hi-Time Wine Cellars, Costa Mesa, Ca.): Big, rich, thick, intense, inky taste, very luscious fruit, needs 2 years to peak, nice finish.
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10/19/1990 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 89 Points
Opus One Tasting at Opus (Napa): At Opus, nose of angular fruit, big body, slightly harsh tannins, briary taste, mouth filling, nice fruit but needs time, hopefully fruit outlasts the large amount of harsh tannins, medium/long finish.
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9/29/1990 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 89 Points
10 Vintages of Opus One and Celebrating Joel Butler new Master of Wine (Walnut Creek, Ca.): Big intense nose, hint of briar, dark berry fruit, big body, coarse fruit, needs 2 years to peak, tasty, has potential to improve, long finish with a pleasant berry aftertaste.
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4/6/1990 - MicklethePickle Likes this wine: 88 Points
With Michael Lehmann at his house. Nice ruby color. Lean and austere in the nose, but with good varietal character, with some complexity. In the mouth, still very tannic, with underlying fruit. Austere and lean, but good for the vintage. 5–11–15-7: 88/100.
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