Bordeaux vintage Flashcards
1959
Exceptional
Perfect weather - warm, sunny
Lush, easy drinking up front - much like 2009
Have aged very well, but are harder to find due to popularity and drinkability at release.
1960
Abysmal
Destroyed by rain
1961
Exceptional Very warm, dry summer Early harvest with low yields Small, thick-skinned, deeply concentrated berries Rich, tannic, ageworthy
1962
Fair for still wine
Exceptional sweet wine
1963
Abysmal
Cold, wet, rotted
Palmer declassified entire crop
1964
Disaster vintage Left Bank and Sauternes
Excellent on Right Bank - harvested before devastating rains
1965
Disaster vintage
1966
Second best of the 1960’s
Hard and tannic on release
Still drinking well now
1967-1969
1967: Light, easy-drinking, over the hill, very good in Sauternes
1968: Disaster, Wettest year since 1951
1969: Similar
Great vintages of the 1960’s
1961
1962 (Sauternes only)
1966 (by comparison)
Disaster vintages of the 1960’s
1960 1963 1964 1965 1968 1969
1970
Excellent
First good vintage since 1961
Big crop, heavy production
1972-1974
Series of disasters
Cold, wet, rainy
1975
Only fair - hard and tannic - but best of a string of bad vintages
Exceptional in sauternes
1977
Disaster vintage
The other worst vintage of the decade
Great vintages of the 1970’s
1970
1975 (by comparison)
Disaster vintages of the 1970’s
1972
1973
1974
1977
1982
Vintage of the century
Phenomenal, perfect weather
1983
Very good for dry wines
Spectacular for sweet wines - best since 1967
1985
Exceptional
Particularly good on the right bank
Elegance over power
1986
Also Exceptional
Hot, very dry
“Traditional”, high-tannin
1987
Worst of the 1980’s along with 1984
Harvest was totally rained out
1988
Very poor and dilute red wines
Exceptional sweet wines (1st of 3 great vintages)
1989
Exceptional
Very hot - hottest summer since 1949, earliest harvest since 1870’s
Big crop, lots of power, lots of fruit
Exceptional for sweet wines as well
Great vintages of the 1980’s
1982 1983 (especially Sauternes) 1985 1986 1988 (Sauternes only) 1989
Disaster vintages of the 1980’s
1984
1987
1990
Exceptional - vintage of the century v. 2
Record-breaking heat, sun, and rain
Similar to 1989; slightly more well-regarded
1991-1992
A series of poor years
1991, 1992: Total disaster, across the board
1993: slightly better, but not much
1994: Mediocre, but optimism led to price inflation
1995
Best of the last five years
BIG CROP
hard, tannic, somewhat charmless
similar to 1975
1996
Exceptional
Best since 1990, better on the Left Bank
Pure, deep, concentrated wines
Very good sweet wines as well
1997
Difficult year for dry wines
Very exceptional sweet wines
1998
Excellent on the right bank: similar quality to 2000 but much better QPR
Left bank washed out by rain
1999
Rainy and fraught by hail
Would have been a disaster but for modern winemaking philosophy and techniques
Great vintages of the 1990’s
1990
1996
1997 (Sauternes only)
1998
Disaster vintages of the 1990’s
1991
1992
1993
2000
Exceptional across the board
First great vintage for both banks since 1990
2001
Spectacular for sweet wine
Right Bank very good, especially now
Left bank wines are somewhat dilute
2002
“Classic” - somewhat green and underripe
But the pricing is reasonable
2003
Heat Wave Vintage
Best wines are from cooler and/or more clay heavy appellations
2004
Huge crop - very high yields
Ladybug vintage - some complaints of greenness
Drink now
2005
Vintage of the century - exceptional across the board
Generally hot and dry with just the right amount of rain
Record upticks in price
2006
Hard, tannic, and austere vintage
Good wine made through rigorous sorting
Very wet September
2007
Soft, pleasant, easy drinking
Gratuitously overpriced as futures
Exceptional for sweet wine
2008
Very long, cool, sunny, dry summer
Very late harvest - up to 160 days of hang time for some (v. 100 average)
First vintage to hit once the Asian market blew up
2009
Exceptional across the board
Rich, opulent, well-fruited
2010
Also exceptional, but more tannic, structured, less drinkable now. Very powerful. Will age.
Drought year = high extract
2011
Difficult year, very small yields
Fresh and aromatic, less concentrated, drink now
Big botrytis year - excellent in Sauternes
2012
Hot, dry summer delayed ripening (shutdown)
Very late harvests, affected by rain
Rigorous sorting necessary
2013
Extremely difficult weather -
rainstorms, rainstorms, rainstorms, hail, wind, etc.
Very low yields - most of the crop was destroyed or unusable.
2014
Better than the 3 previous years -
warm and sunny at harvest, yields are up, and the grapes are likely in better condition.
20th Century Exceptional Vintages
1899 1900 1921 1928 (high tannin, austere) 1929 1934 1937 (Sauternes only) 1945 1947 (especially Right Bank) 1949 1953
