1947

1947 In most areas of consumer goods, demand exceeded supply in the United States and British car manufacturers took advantage of these shortages by exporting as many cars as possible to help boost British jobs and the economy and many Americans liked the features of these British cars like Austin, Hillman and MG. This year saw some of the most important inventions that would impact lives for many years to come, including the transistor and th...

Where the 1945 represents sophistication, nuance and classic character, the 1947 stands for richness, robustness and succulence. Spring was delayed that year, which meant a late start to the growing season. The summer warmed up towards fall and the abundant sunshine caused the grapes to ripen very quickly. Daytime temperatures ranged between 35 and 38°C. The crop was finally harvested in almost tropical conditions, when a storm ravaged Bordeaux on September 19 and 20.

Fortunately, a large percentage of the grapes had already been harvested. The grapes were unusually hot during picking and the volatile acids caused problems for many vineyards during fermentation. The end result was an absolutely extraordinary vintage, which turned out magnificent, particularly on the Right Bank and in Sauternes. Even young, these reds were exceptionally drinkable. Their life cycle, on the other hand, has been surprisingly varied. The wines of Pomerol and Saint-Émilion proved superior to the Médocs and Graves. The supreme wine of this vintage is most certainly Château Cheval Blanc, which, in terms of mouthfeel, is perhaps the greatest wine of the entire 20th century. Why the White Horse was so successful that year is a mystery. Unlike what happened to so many others, the White Horse did not suffer from an excess of volatile acids.

Everything from vineyard microclimate to production have been offered as explanations. Because the weather was unusually warm, there were no humid morning mists in the vineyards, limiting conditions for the formation of natural yeasts that increase volatility. The heat also killed the natural yeasts and the amount was generally lower than normal. Fermentation was carried out in small concrete tanks, which provided effective insulation against external heat and maintained sufficiently low temperatures, thus preventing the formation of volatile acids. Another very interesting aspect of the production of Cheval Blanc was its maturation for 5 to 10 years in old barrels; This was because new oak barrels were not available after the depression and war years. In all its glory, the 1947 Cheval Blanc caricatures modern winemaking as an incredible example of the heights that can be reached without the aid of technology. In addition to the Cheval, the Pétrus and the Lafleur are vintage gems.

The 1947 wine vintage in Burgundy is legendary and universally regarded as one of the greatest, most opulent, and most historic vintages of the 20th century. A scorching, intensely hot summer led to exceptionally high natural sugar concentration and massive fruit extraction, yielding rich, velvety Pinot Noirs with dizzying aromatic complexity. While the extreme heat caused tricky fermentations for many winemakers due to soaring sugars, the resulting wines were monumental, concentrated blockbusters with an almost immortal ability to age. The towering peak of this vintage remains the iconic Domaine de la Romanée-Conti lineup—particularly its Romanée-Conti and La Tâche—which are revered by collectors as mythical, flawless masterpieces of Burgundy history

The 1947 wine vintage in Champagne was an extraordinary, opulent, and legendary success, widely celebrated as one of the finest and richest Champagne harvests of the 20th century. A remarkably dry and scorching summer caused the grapes to ripen rapidly under near-tropical conditions, building magnificent, record-breaking natural sugar levels. This immense ripeness resulted in high-alcohol, deeply structured, and voluptuous base wines that departed from the usual lean style to offer a decadent profile of baked apple, brioche, honey, and caramel. While the extreme harvest heat triggered tricky fermentations for some cellars, iconic prestige houses like Krug, Bollinger, and Pol Roger crafted rare, monolithic vintage cuvées with a powerful structural backbone that allowed them to age beautifully for decades

Australia / Well above average growing season rainfall but with a dry January. A very wet March provided challenging vintage conditions.

This was an all time record production year for SA with 2.75 million gallons produced, which surpassed the previous record in 1946 and followed the drought year of 1945 – the lightest vintage since 1923.

The first Barossa Valley Vintage Festival was held to mark the end of vintage – and the end of World War II. Bill Seppelt, who had witnessed similar thanksgiving celebrations in Europe, initiated the idea.

Fortified wines – ports, sherries and brandies – were the main wine style produced in the Barossa. However, Colin Gramp broke with tradition on his return from World War II and produced a Barossa Cabernet-Shiraz table wine.

War restrictions on imported wines were gradually being lifted but import licences on equipment and machinery were still difficult to obtain, slowing the wine industry’s development.

Post-war wine exports to the UK were down.

The 1947 wine vintage in Italy was a breathtaking, legendary triumph, widely ranked as one of the absolute greatest and most powerful Italian vintages of the 20th century. A blistering, sun-drenched summer brought grapes across the peninsula to unprecedented levels of sugar concentration and sugar-acid balance, yielding monolithic, deeply structured wines with immense aging potential. In Piedmont, this historic heatwave produced rich, velvety, and intensely aromatic Barolos and Barbarescos from benchmark producers like Borgogno and Gaja, while in Tuscany, it birthed mythical masterpieces like the iconic 1947 Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva, cementing the vintage as a world-class cornerstone of postwar Italian winemaking.

Port Vintage: An outstanding vintage that produced fine, attractive wines, it was only declared by 11 shippers. These wines have been fully mature for many years, but well cellared, the best wines will last for many more.

The 1947 wine vintage in Germany was an outstanding, very good year characterized by a historic summer heatwave that produced legendary, highly concentrated noble sweet white wines. Much like the rest of Western Europe, German wine regions basked in a scorching, sun-drenched growing season that pushed grape ripeness to extreme levels.  It became a benchmark era for luscious Auslese, Beerenauslese (BA), and Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) bottlines—such as the near-flawless 1947 Marcobrunner Riesling Edelbeerenauslese—which possessed the vibrant, piercing acidity and high sugar content necessary to comfortably age in cellars for a century or more.