1981 Chateau Beychevelle - 750ml

John Gilman
The 1981 vintage is not one of the strongest of the decade at Château Beychevelle, but the wine has aged properly and is still a good, solid middleweight. As I noted in my article on the estate a few years ago, the 1981 is completely mature today, but remains sound and still offers up a good glass of claret. The bouquet offers up scents of dark berries, cassis, a fine base of Beychevelle dark soil tones, cigar ash, a hint of violet and some mature nuttiness in the upper register. On the palate the wine is medium-full, suave and velvety, with no rough edges, good focus and nice balance on the complex, though not particularly long finish. This is a very pretty wine for drinking over the next several years. (8/2016)