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Wine Description
The Story
The Gruaud Larose terroir is truly remarkable and unique. It is a single vineyard of 80 hectares with gravels from the Gironde estuary, dating from the Mindel Ist and Mindel IInd (about 700 000 years ago), and that in some places are over 18 feet deep. The soil is very poor and sandy, and therefore does not hold water. Drainage is one of the major concerns of a conscientious vine-grower.
It is also an important factor at Gruaud Larose where nineteenth-century underground pottery drains have been found. The natural draining system due to the poor quality of soils, from the hot and dry summers, and mostly from their position on the highest plateau of Saint-Julien - 18 metres high from the sea level -, constantly exposed to the north and west winds, favour both soil and optimum maturity for grapes. In fact, Nature has given here a magical aspect to this unique estate vineyard.
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.