News
Sometimes, just like buses, one great Bordeaux vintage arrives after another in quick succession. So it was in the 1860s. Just a decade after the 1855 classification of Bordeaux, 1864 heralded the start of a pair of vintages culminating in the 1865, widely regarded as the greatest of all the pre-Phylloxera vintages of the late 19th century. Outside wine, 1864 saw the birth of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and the publication of Jules Verne’s ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’.
Michael Broadbent describes the 1864 as “one of the greatest vintages of the nineteenth century” and regards 1865 as “sturdier than the 1864” and “the most dependable vintage of this period”.
1864 was the first quite large crop after the devastation caused by powdery mildew, which appeared in 1852 and was brought under control as from 1860, thanks to sulphur sprays. This vintage enjoyed an excellent reputation; the wines were both powerful and mellow, much more attractive than the great majority of wines of that era.