1983 Haut Bailly
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Tasting notes
This was my wine of the night, among stiff competition. Perhaps not the highest quality - that would have to go to the 2016 - but the most welcoming, a wine to sink into, at a perfect moment, made sweeter by the fact that it doesn't have decades ahead of it, and you need to capture the joy right now. Think strawberry puree, turmeric and cloves, finessed and finely balanced. There are very few 1970s that can still stand up, and while perhaps it lacks stuffing through the mid palate compared to some, it is effortless in its delivery of smoke, tar, campfire, rose petals. Produced by Veronique Sanders' grandfather, Jean Sanders. Served out of magnum.
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More reviews and scores
One of the stars of the day, tobacco, saffron, soot, blackberry, loganberry, sof leather, sandalwood and undergrowth notes. This is just charm in a glass, so finessed and luxuriously balanced, a wine you want to sink in to, and sit with, just enjoying the view. Only four magnums left at the chateau - now three! Owned by the Sanders family at the time, and this was before the establishment of the Pessac Léognan appellation a few years later.
The 1983 Haut-Bailly is showing some maturity on the rim. It has a lovely, elegant bouquet with red fruit, prune, a touch of grass cuttings and later with aeration, a hint of liquorice. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins. Decent blackberry and cranberry fruit are laced with cedar and tobacco. Not long and a little rustic on the finish, yet still a thoroughly enjoyable Haut-Bailly that is probably best consumed in the near future. Tasted from an ex-cellar bottle at the château.
The 1983 is a typical Haut-Bailly. It is dark ruby in color, with a rich, voluptuous, ripe, black currant bouquet, and some attractive vanillin oaky aromas. On the palate, the wine is forward, with lush, silky, ripe, round tannins evident. It is medium-bodied, with a Pomerol-like, silky, fat texture. This wine is already fully mature. Anticipated maturity: Now. Last tasted, 1/91.
About the producer
Quality at this château, now one of Pessac-Léognan’s leading wine estates, has risen exponentially under the reign of Véronique Sanders, with the property known for crafting wines of elegance and poise.