x
  • Country ranking ?

    466
  • Producer ranking ?

    16
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    now to 2035
  • Food Pairing

    Mushroom Risotto

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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The Story

Château Le Pin, or simply Le Pin, is an unclassed Bordeaux wine from the appellation Pomerol. There has never been an official classification of Pomerol. Even so, Chateau Le Pin commands prices that put it at levels equal to the best wines of Bordeaux. The unusually small estate is located on the Right Bank of France’s Gironde estuary, and its wine is periodically one of the world's most expensive red wines. Le Pin was the first of the "garage wines" or microchateau that have become cult collector wines. These wines defy the traditional classifications.
 

Madame Laubie, whose family had owned the plot since 1924 sold the vineyard in 1979 to the Belgian Thienpont family for 1 million francs. Developed by Marcel and Gérard Thienpont on less than 2 hectares, wine was produced by microcuvée from a farmhouse basement. The property was given the name Le Pin by the Thienponts from a solitary pine tree that shades the property. By acquiring tiny adjoining plots of land, Jacques has doubled the size of Le Pin to five acres.

Occasionally the most expensive wine in the world, continually receiving high ratings from wine critics and produced in extremely small numbers, Le Pin bottles are a constant presence on the wine auction market. Le Pin produces just 600 to 700 cases each year.
Currently managed by Jacques Thienpont, additional tiny plots of land have been acquired. Some years no wine is produced.

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Wine Information

Soil: gravel and clay with a little sand
Production area: 5 ha
Grape varieties: Merlot almost 100% (some Cabernet Franc)
Average age of vines: 32 years
Harvest method:hand picked
Winemaking: fermented in stainless steel before being matured in 200% new oak barriques for between 14 and 18 months

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Vintage 1983

Bordeaux / If 1981 was forgotten after 1982, the 1983 was completely eclipsed by 1982, although the harvest was large and of high quality throughout Bordeaux. Too much humidity caused by heavy rains hampered production in many places. At Margaux, some wines were even better than 1982. For example, Château Margaux announced that their 1983 surpassed the 1982. One of the best Palmers of all time was Palmer 1983.

The best wine of the vintage, however, was Le Pin – without a doubt. It’s a real bargain, not only for the quality, but also for the price at 1 550 euros per bottle, compared to Le Pin 1982 at 6,500 euros in 2020. Cheval Blanc has also done fabulously. Yquem began a new climb this year. Graves was hit by a hailstorm which resulted in a small and virtually non-existent harvest.

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Average Bottle Price

2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2005 2000
1 821€ -2.4% 1 866€ +17.5% 1 588€ -0.1% 1 590€ +9.4% 1 453€ +22.2% 1 189€ +69.6% 701€

This data comes from the FINE Auction Index, a composite of average prices for wines sold at commercial auctions in 20 countries. The average prices from each year have been collected since 1990. This chart plots the index value of the average price of the wines.

Tasting note

color

Youthful, Ruby red and Bright

ending

Long, Round and Flavorful

flavors

Blackberry, Plum, Cedar, Cigar-box, Meaty and Mushrooms

nose

Wide, Fresh, Seductive and Refined

recommend

Yes

taste

Average in Acidity, Warming, Perfectly balanced, Multi-dimensional, Good texture, Full-bodied, Vigor, Dry and Silky tannins

Verdict

Outstanding

Written Notes

The 1983 Le Pin had a sweet kinky nose, full of rich fruit. Its fruit was really great, the purest and most kaleidoscopic with that overripe kink like ’83 Lafleur. The palate was also rich, with nice earth and olive flavors twisting into blueberry and boysenberry jam extraordinaire. Bipin found it ‘seductive, elegant and sexy,’ and Jef kept stressing the sexy.
  • 95p
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Information

Origin

Pomerol, Bordeaux

Vineyard size

5ha

Grapes

100% Merlot

Age of vines

35

Vintage Quality

Above Average

Value For Money

Good

Ageing

  • in oak 200% for 1 years and 6 months

Investment potential

Good

Fake factory

There is a possibility

Glass time

1h
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