The vintage

1983

Margaux's year, and Sauternes' too

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The 1983 vintage, rated

Margaux's year, and Sauternes' too

In 2026 a bottle from 1983 marks a 43rd birthday or anniversary

The vintage

Excellent · 4/5

A good, classical Bordeaux vintage living in the shadow of 1982, and unusually uneven from commune to commune. Margaux was outstanding, the rest of the Médoc merely sound. The real stars sit elsewhere: Sauternes made one of its finest vintages of the century, the Douro declared a superb Port year, and the northern Rhône was excellent. Burgundy was a lottery of hail, rot and drought.

What we would buy, and why

Two things are worth chasing from 1983, and both survive an imperfect cellar better than claret does: Sauternes and vintage Port. In Bordeaux itself, stay in Margaux. A 1983 Sauternes from a good property runs €120 to €300, which is unusually good value for a wine of this age, and a bottle of the Port will still be lively enough to pour for a whole room.

1983 in the world

Return of the Jedi opened in May, Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in June, and Motorola put the first commercial mobile telephone on sale: a brick that cost about the same as a small car.

Best bets for 1983

  • Château Margaux 1983, one of the wines of the decade if the budget allows
  • Château Climens or Suduiraut 1983 Sauternes, a great botrytis year at a sane price
  • Taylor's, Graham's or Warre's 1983 Vintage Port
  • Hermitage 1983 from Chave or Jaboulet for something less expected

How we grade a bottle

Fill level, label, capsule and cork, then provenance. Every bottle is checked by hand by people who have handled thousands of old bottles, and we write down the flaws as well as the good news. What the fill levels mean · How to choose a birth-year wine

Real people, not a chatbot

Ask a person about this year

The people who answer are the same people who check and pack the bottles. Ask for photographs, a condition report or advice on a year and you get a straight answer from the ANNO team, Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 18:00 CET.