The label on this bottle no longer exists. In 2013 Château L'Arrosée was bought by the owners of Haut-Brion and folded into their Saint-Émilion property, Château Quintus, so every bottle carrying the L'Arrosée name is now a finite thing.
The estate sat on the côtes just south-west of the town of Saint-Émilion, clay over limestone, and it held a quiet cult reputation through the 1970s and 80s under François Rodhain — a Grand Cru Classé that regularly outperformed properties ranked above it. The blend was unusual for the right bank: Merlot leading, but with a serious proportion of both Cabernets, which gave the wines a firmer frame than their neighbours.
1983 was a warm, humid, difficult growing season in Bordeaux, kinder to the right bank than the reputation of the year suggests. Forty-odd years on, a bottle like this is no longer about power. It is about what a mature claret smells like when it has been left alone in a cellar since the year on the label.
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Producer: Château L’Arrosée
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Vintage: 1983
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Appellation: Saint-Émilion AOC
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Format: 75cl
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Region: Bordeaux, France
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Style: Red
Where it is likely to be now. At forty-three years old this will be fully tertiary — dried fruit, undergrowth, soft tannin — and while L'Arrosée had the structure to last, any bottle of this age depends on its cork.
Who it suits. For someone born in 1983 and turning forty-three, or a couple marking forty-three years together, and particularly for anyone who likes owning a label that no longer exists.
Condition. The merchant grades the bottle's overall condition as good, which at this age means an intact label and capsule with normal cellar wear; we check and photograph it again before the bottle ships.
Provenance. Bought to order from a professional European merchant. We check fill, label and capsule when the bottle reaches us and photograph it before it ships.
Delivered in 7 to 10 working days, tracked. Transit cover can be added at checkout.
Sold as a collectible item, as seen. No guarantee is given on drinkability.
