Uutiset
Most experts shrugged off 1974 as harsh, dry and unsightly. A few fans of the vintage are stubbornly holding on to a few bottles, hoping they will come back. Most Bordeaux enthusiasts wrote them off. They should probably be drunk. Don't confuse them with any 1974 California Cabernets you might have. It was an exceptionally good year in California.
The 1975 vintage was another great one in Bordeaux. There are those who put it ahead of 1961. They were similar: both came from small crops and both were concentrated and powerful wines. The best of the 1975s won't be ready for another 10 years, probably 15.
The 1976s were good wines that can be enjoyed drinking now, but will last another decade if stored properly. They were followed by 1977, an average year that is currently driven by trade. The wines are usable, if the price is right, but not worth keeping longer.
SINCE 1978, BORDEAUX HAS HAD a series of remarkable vintages. The 1978s are almost in the same class as the 1975s, full and concentrated wines that have a long, distinguished life ahead of them. The 1979s aren't that great, but they were, and will be for many years to come, very good wines. None of these vintages should be drunk for many years. The 1980s were relatively light, but 1981 was in a class with 1979, another very good year. Next came 1982, which some critics say was 1961 and 1975, and then, just when everyone was reeling from too much hyperbole, along came 1983, another long-lived great wine.
Obviously, the only one of these vintages worth drinking right now is 1980. The rest should sleep quietly for many years.
The era of long-lived great Burgundians seems to be over; So much so that it is almost necessary to speak in terms of producers rather than vintages. Thus, wines from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti or winemakers like Henri Jayer, Jean Trapet, Jacques Seysses or Marquis d'Angerville can last for years, while many Burgundies from lesser-known shippers are undistinguished and short-lived. duration.
The vintage business is complicated!
If you were lucky enough to have Bordeaux wines from the vintages 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980 safely stored in your wine cellar, you would try to drink them in the same order, starting with the most elders, leaving the younger ones to age. RIGHT? Error. With some minor variations, the best order for drinking these particular vintages would probably be: 1977, 1980, 1976, 1979, 1978 and 1975.
The vintage business is complicated. Knowing Bordeaux vintages isn't much help when it comes to Burgundy, and Burgundy isn't going to provide too many clues about what's going on in the Rheingau or Tuscany or Napa Valley.
It is, of course, entirely possible to drink wine all your life and never worry about vintages. Probably 90 percent of all the world's wine is intended to be drunk within a year of being made. In fact, a lot of time is wasted worrying about vintages. People who can barely tell red wine from white are desperate to know if what they are drinking is from a good year. When they buy wine, they miss out on wonderful bottles and great deals because they assume they must have great vintages.
Two veterans of the California wine scene, Brother Timothy of the Christian Brothers and the late August Sebastiani of Sebastiani Vineyards, tried very hard to beat the vintage game and failed. Their theory: wines from different vintages should be blended to take advantage of the best qualities of varied years. They were right, of course, but the public would have none of that.
In fact, the only premium wine in the world that successfully ignores vintages is Champagne. Champagne makers routinely blend wines from six or seven vintages to achieve their distinctive styles. Even they make vintage wines, but only in certain years and even then, many Champenois insist that the blends are better.
Given our obsession with vintages, there are times when it's good to know a little more about them. For example, suppose the clerk tells you he has a sale on four-year-old Beaujolais. The way to tell the best year for simple Beaujolais is to look at a calendar. No matter what year you are in, last year’s Beaujolais is the best.
Collectors need to know something about vintages. What's worse than sitting on a cellar full of wine over the hill? Anyone who has preserved Bordeaux from 1967 or 1973 should definitely drink it. Wines from the 1950s, except for the big names, should all disappear. The same goes for everything about the 1960, 1962 and 1969 vintages. The 1963 and 1965 years were poor from the start, and there are only a few of them. The years 1968 were not much better. Some l964s are still good, others not; Many 1966s are still excellent if they have been well preserved. The great vintage of the 1960s was 1961. The best wines of the vintage, dark and concentrated, are still not ready to drink. There hasn't been a vintage like this since 1945, another great year.
The 1970s were, and are, very good and in many cases seem to be getting better. It was a great harvest and the vintage that served as an introduction to Bordeaux for many Americans. By the mid-1970s, there were plenty of 1970s, and for a while, at a bargain basement price. Anyone who stocked up on 1970 has every right to be complacent now. The 1971s were good, and some continue to be good. But they're not expected to improve much, and most people have already drunk them. The following year, 1972, was universally condemned upon its release and is generally credited with triggering the collapse of the Bordeaux wine market in 1973 and 1974. What happened was this: buyers drove the prices of the 1972 to astronomical heights. Then, while the wine was still in barrels, came the enormous 1973 vintage, a year of much better wine. Bordeaux was stuck with the 1972s.
In France, the years 1972 were treated less harshly. They still appear on lists, and they turn out to be, well, not so bad.