What you'd expect from such a legendary estate. Wonderful palate impression with silky rich fruit. Plenty of blackberry and chocolate character has a full body and medium finish. Needs time. Try after 1997.--The Bordeaux 50. (JS)

The 1983 Petrus is a vintage I have only encountered a couple of times. This is unquestionably the best I have experienced, blind no less. The bouquet springs from the glass, autumn bonfire scents intertwined with black truffle and leather, more fruit than I remember on the previous bottle. Perhaps the palate just misses a little cohesion? Foursquare but fresh, this is a simple Petrus predestined to lie in the shadow of the previous vintage. Yet this punches above my expectations. Tasted blind at Olivier Bernard's "3" dinner at Domaine de Chevalier. -- Neal Martin