Having fallen in love with the 1989 earlier this week, I decided it was time to try a few more. I tasted an excellent 1983 on Thursday, not quite on a par with the 1989 (93 points) but yesterday, a friend came round bearing several gallons of very potent sangria and a bottle of 1984 white Chave. The Sangria was good, and an excellent apertif, but I talked about the Chaves I had enjoyed, and he said he had never had a great 1983.
I have always preferred the Yapp bottlings to Kermit Lynch's, so trotted down to pull out a bottle I had sourced directly from Yapp and hand carried back to NY. I also pulled out a bottle one of my dwindling cache of 1984.
1983
While the 1983 I had enjoyed earlier in the week was a UK bottle, it did not quite have the breadth and length of this bottle. Beautiful perfume of the same smokey fruit and leather mixed in with a touch of animal. It continued to improve on the palate, a complex delicious wine. The 1989 was a point or two better, but this was still a marvelous wine. 95 points
1984 Blanc
Fading but still an interesting bottle. Orange peel, hazelnuts, old furniture polish and slight sherriness. Complex but not particularly enjoyable-five years ago this would have been lovely.
1984 red
Chave does not make bad wine, and this was a perfect example. Lousy vintage, and yet when I looked, the color was less saturated than the 1983 but showing only a hint of brown on the edge. The animal character was more pronounced, and the smoky fruit less so, but with time, the two began to balance out. Pleasant and balanced on the palate with medium length. If not a great wine, it is great winemaking- a triumph for the vintage. 87 points