Bordeaux Vintage COPY

Question 1

Bordeaux: 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

Bordeaux: 1960

Answer 2

Abysmal

Destroyed by rain

Question 3

Bordeaux: 1961

Answer 3

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

Question 4

Bordeaux: 1962

Answer 4

Fair for still wine

Exceptional sweet wine

Question 5

Bordeaux: 1963

Answer 5

Abysmal
Cold, wet, rotted
Palmer declassified entire crop

Question 6

Bordeaux: 1964

Answer 6

Disaster vintage Left Bank and Sauternes

Excellent on Right Bank - harvested before devastating rains

Question 7

Bordeaux: 1965

Answer 7

Disaster vintage

Question 8

Bordeaux: 1966

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Bordeaux: 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

Bordeaux: Great vintages of the 1960’s

Answer 10

1961
1962 (Sauternes only)
1966 (by comparison)

Question 11

Bordeaux: Disaster vintages of the 1960’s

Answer 11

1960 
1963
1964
1965 
1968 
1969

Question 12

Bordeaux: 1970

Answer 12

Excellent
First good vintage since 1961
Big crop, heavy production

Question 13

Bordeaux: 1972-1974

Answer 13

Series of disasters

Cold, wet, rainy

Question 14

Bordeaux: 1975

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Bordeaux: 1977

Answer 15

Disaster vintage

The other worst vintage of the decade

Question 16

Bordeaux: Great vintages of the 1970’s

Answer 16

1970

1975 (by comparison)

Question 17

Bordeaux: Disaster vintages of the 1970’s

Answer 17

1972
1973
1974
1977

Question 18

Bordeaux: 1982

Answer 18

Vintage of the century

Phenomenal, perfect weather

Question 19

Bordeaux: 1983

Answer 19

Very good for dry wines

Spectacular for sweet wines - best since 1967

Question 20

Bordeaux: 1985

Answer 20

Exceptional
Particularly good on the right bank
Elegance over power

Question 21

Bordeaux: 1986

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Bordeaux: 1987

Answer 22

Worst of the 1980’s along with 1984

Harvest was totally rained out

Question 23

Bordeaux: 1988

Answer 23

Very poor and dilute red wines

Exceptional sweet wines (1st of 3 great vintages)

Question 24

Bordeaux: 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

Bordeaux: Great vintages of the 1980’s

Answer 25

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

Question 26

Bordeaux: Disaster vintages of the 1980’s

Answer 26

1984

1987

Question 27

Bordeaux: 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

Bordeaux: 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

Bordeaux: 1995

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Bordeaux: 1996

Answer 30

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

Question 31

Bordeaux: 1997

Answer 31

Difficult year for dry wines

Very exceptional sweet wines

Question 32

Bordeaux: 1998

Answer 32

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

Question 33

Bordeaux: 1999

Answer 33

Rainy and fraught by hail

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

Question 34

Bordeaux: Great vintages of the 1990’s

Answer 34

1990
1996
1997 (Sauternes only)
1998

Question 35

Bordeaux: Disaster vintages of the 1990’s

Answer 35

1991
1992
1993

Question 36

Bordeaux: 2000

Answer 36

Exceptional across the board

First great vintage for both banks since 1990

Question 37

Bordeaux: 2001

Answer 37

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

Question 38

Bordeaux: 2002

Answer 38

“Classic” - somewhat green and underripe

But the pricing is reasonable

Question 39

Bordeaux: 2003

Answer 39

Heat Wave Vintage

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

Question 40

Bordeaux: 2004

Answer 40

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

Question 41

Bordeaux: 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

Bordeaux: 2006

Answer 42

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

Question 43

Bordeaux: 2007

Answer 43

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

Question 44

Bordeaux: 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

Bordeaux: 2009

Answer 45

Exceptional across the board

Rich, opulent, well-fruited

Question 46

Bordeaux: 2010

Answer 46

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

Question 47

Bordeaux: 2011

Answer 47

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

Question 48

Bordeaux: 2012

Answer 48

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

Question 49

Bordeaux: 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

Bordeaux: 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

Bordeaux: 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