Bordeaux vintage

Question 1

1959

Answer 1

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.

Question 2

1960

Answer 2

Abysmal

Destroyed by rain

Question 3

1961

Answer 3

Exceptional
Very warm, dry summer
Early harvest with low yields
Small, thick-skinned, deeply concentrated berries
Rich, tannic, ageworthy

Question 4

1962

Answer 4

Fair for still wine

Exceptional sweet wine

Question 5

1963

Answer 5

Abysmal
Cold, wet, rotted
Palmer declassified entire crop

Question 6

1964

Answer 6

Disaster vintage Left Bank and Sauternes

Excellent on Right Bank - harvested before devastating rains

Question 7

1965

Answer 7

Disaster vintage

Question 8

1966

Answer 8

Second best of the 1960’s
Hard and tannic on release
Still drinking well now

Question 9

1967-1969

Answer 9

1967: Light, easy-drinking, over the hill, very good in Sauternes
1968: Disaster, Wettest year since 1951
1969: Similar

Question 10

Great vintages of the 1960’s

Answer 10

1961
1962 (Sauternes only)
1966 (by comparison)

Question 11

Disaster vintages of the 1960’s

Answer 11

1960 
1963
1964
1965 
1968 
1969

Question 12

1970

Answer 12

Excellent
First good vintage since 1961
Big crop, heavy production

Question 13

1972-1974

Answer 13

Series of disasters

Cold, wet, rainy

Question 14

1975

Answer 14

Only fair - hard and tannic - but best of a string of bad vintages
Exceptional in sauternes

Question 15

1977

Answer 15

Disaster vintage

The other worst vintage of the decade

Question 16

Great vintages of the 1970’s

Answer 16

1970

1975 (by comparison)

Question 17

Disaster vintages of the 1970’s

Answer 17

1972
1973
1974
1977

Question 18

1982

Answer 18

Vintage of the century

Phenomenal, perfect weather

Question 19

1983

Answer 19

Very good for dry wines

Spectacular for sweet wines - best since 1967

Question 20

1985

Answer 20

Exceptional
Particularly good on the right bank
Elegance over power

Question 21

1986

Answer 21

Also Exceptional
Hot, very dry
“Traditional”, high-tannin

Question 22

1987

Answer 22

Worst of the 1980’s along with 1984

Harvest was totally rained out

Question 23

1988

Answer 23

Very poor and dilute red wines

Exceptional sweet wines (1st of 3 great vintages)

Question 24

1989

Answer 24

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

Question 25

Great vintages of the 1980’s

Answer 25

1982
1983 (especially Sauternes)
1985
1986
1988 (Sauternes only)
1989

Question 26

Disaster vintages of the 1980’s

Answer 26

1984

1987

Question 27

1990

Answer 27

Exceptional - vintage of the century v. 2
Record-breaking heat, sun, and rain
Similar to 1989; slightly more well-regarded

Question 28

1991-1992

Answer 28

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

Question 29

1995

Answer 29

Best of the last five years
BIG CROP
hard, tannic, somewhat charmless
similar to 1975

Question 30

1996

Answer 30

Exceptional
Best since 1990, better on the Left Bank
Pure, deep, concentrated wines
Very good sweet wines as well

Question 31

1997

Answer 31

Difficult year for dry wines

Very exceptional sweet wines

Question 32

1998

Answer 32

Excellent on the right bank: similar quality to 2000 but much better QPR
Left bank washed out by rain

Question 33

1999

Answer 33

Rainy and fraught by hail

Would have been a disaster but for modern winemaking philosophy and techniques

Question 34

Great vintages of the 1990’s

Answer 34

1990
1996
1997 (Sauternes only)
1998

Question 35

Disaster vintages of the 1990’s

Answer 35

1991
1992
1993

Question 36

2000

Answer 36

Exceptional across the board

First great vintage for both banks since 1990

Question 37

2001

Answer 37

Spectacular for sweet wine
Right Bank very good, especially now
Left bank wines are somewhat dilute

Question 38

2002

Answer 38

“Classic” - somewhat green and underripe

But the pricing is reasonable

Question 39

2003

Answer 39

Heat Wave Vintage

Best wines are from cooler and/or more clay heavy appellations

Question 40

2004

Answer 40

Huge crop - very high yields
Ladybug vintage - some complaints of greenness
Drink now

Question 41

2005

Answer 41

Vintage of the century - exceptional across the board
Generally hot and dry with just the right amount of rain
Record upticks in price

Question 42

2006

Answer 42

Hard, tannic, and austere vintage
Good wine made through rigorous sorting
Very wet September

Question 43

2007

Answer 43

Soft, pleasant, easy drinking
Gratuitously overpriced as futures
Exceptional for sweet wine

Question 44

2008

Answer 44

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

Question 45

2009

Answer 45

Exceptional across the board

Rich, opulent, well-fruited

Question 46

2010

Answer 46

Also exceptional, but more tannic, structured, less drinkable now. Very powerful. Will age.
Drought year = high extract

Question 47

2011

Answer 47

Difficult year, very small yields
Fresh and aromatic, less concentrated, drink now
Big botrytis year - excellent in Sauternes

Question 48

2012

Answer 48

Hot, dry summer delayed ripening (shutdown)
Very late harvests, affected by rain
Rigorous sorting necessary

Question 49

2013

Answer 49

Extremely difficult weather -
rainstorms, rainstorms, rainstorms, hail, wind, etc.
Very low yields - most of the crop was destroyed or unusable.

Question 50

2014

Answer 50

Better than the 3 previous years -

warm and sunny at harvest, yields are up, and the grapes are likely in better condition.

Question 51

20th Century Exceptional Vintages

Answer 51

1899
1900
1921
1928 (high tannin, austere)
1929
1934
1937 (Sauternes only)
1945
1947 (especially Right Bank)
1949
1953