Paul Jaboulet Aine Crozes-Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert, 1983

My son, Ted, loves Jaboulet's Domaine Thalabert almost as much as I do. So to celebrate his birthday every year for the last decade or so, I have pulled out a bottle of the 1983, one of the three best Thalaberts of the last 50 years. This year, Ted is 40 and so is his bottle of Thalabert,. And they are both doing very well.

Light brick color on a small pour but deep, dark and noble in the glass. One side of the bottle was heavily crusted with sediment so it required a decant. The smells and flavors are beautiful from the time the cork was popped. More red fruit than black, but that is probably because of the lovely level of acidity. Black olives, grilled tomatoes, meat. The fruit is well preserved for a wine of this age, but the deep savory qualities are what make it special. Dances on the tongue as old Thalaberts are prone to do. I could sit, sip and savor all day.

1983 was a great vintage for Jaboulet. I had two bottles of the 1983 Hermitage la Chapelle back in the mid-1990s and I have always liked the 1983 Cornas. Yet I have always preferred the Thalabert. That is probably because I drank the Hermitage way too early, but it is also because the Thalabert drinks far above the Crozes class. 

This, I believe, is my last bottle of the 1983, but it served quite well for my  son's 40th birthday. He loved it, and so did I.