1977

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.

Bordeaux / The 1977 vintage ended up being one of the poorest of the 1970s. Early budburst faced a damaging spring frost, reducing crop size from small to minimal. The forming crop was poorly treated by the cool and constantly wet summer. Then came the driest September in 125 years, followed by a dry October saving the vintage from total disaster. The epitome of the vintage was the poorest Mouton-Rothschild ever made. The only pleasure it can give is the beautiful label. On the other hand, there are surprises. Lafite with a ridiculous price of 150 euros per bottle turned out to be very pleasant. The best experience this year is still the Yquem produced in very small quantities. Overall, all dry wines were ready to drink upon release and are not

Main characteristics of the vintage
From the beginning of March, the weather was good with temperatures quite high above the seasonal average causing the vines to grow around March 10, which was really very early. At the end of the month, despite the sunny weather, it was rather cold (on March 31, the temperature dropped below 2°C). Merlots and Cabernet Francs were first affected by the frost, because their growth predated that of Cabernet Sauvignons. The Montrose vineyard, well ventilated by its proximity to the Gironde estuary, was never subject to spring frosts before 1977. Then, May and June were too mild for the season with precipitation. Early vegetation was delayed and flowering was late (mid-flowering on June 21). If July temperatures were normal, August and September lacked sun and heat, leading to insufficient maturity of the grapes. The first days of harvest were characterized by alternating rain and sun, followed by nice cool weather. During this period, the temperature did not exceed 20°C;

Declared by all the major Port houses, 1977 is a classic vintage. Marked by well structured, balanced wines with strong tannins, the wines from 1977 have great elegance and staying power. The best of them have the tannin and structure to age for decades.

Port Vintage Report: A classic vintage. Dark purple and fruity wines, rich in tannins, with good aging potential. Almost all producers declared their production. Cold and rain in the first months of the year. Late flowering and slow maturation. Moderate summer, but very hot September.

Napa Vintage Report by Heitz: Rain interrupted the harvest but a number of good cabernets were made

Weather Conditions With vines pruned for a small harvest in anticipation of a second year of drought, winemakers produced better-balanced wines with a certain elegance. With most vines having a small harvest, the vineyards got through the hot and sometimes hot summer weeks in fairly good condition. Irrigation was widely practiced to avoid putting too much stress on the vines. By the time most of the Merlot was safely in cellars, the North Coast experienced several light rain showers which, in retrospect, proved beneficial to the small, dehydrated fruit. As a result of this harvest rain, the cabernet was revived and over the next ten days to two weeks the berries returned to a better balance of juice and softer skins. Many of the best wines were made from vineyards picked in late October. Overall, the successes showed good varietal character and were capable of medium (10 years) long-term aging.

Australia / Although the previous winter was considered a drought, 25mm of precipitation in January and a cool, wet March allowed growers to achieve average yields. The cool ripening period contributed to tighter, more elegant reds than in 1976, the best of which were very good.

In 1977 there were 7,936 hectares of vines in the Barossa and 36,471 tonnes of wine grapes were crushed in that vintage.

This year marked the first serious surplus of wine grapes in the Barossa, particularly red varieties but also Sémillon. In response, Dalgety (Saltram) announced it would not purchase grapes from its Barossa growers.
Returns have been good, but price increases, if any, have been minimal.

Technical innovations continued at Kaiser Stuhl where the first Westfalia centrifugal carafe for clarifying must and wine was launched. The Barossa also entered the computer age with the first microprocessors used at Yalumba to control winery operations.

The first Barossa Wine Show took place in January. This took over the long tradition of judging wines at the Angaston and Tanunda Agricultural and Horticultural Exhibitions, which had begun in the 1850s. The first chairman was Phillip John. The show was created “because it was thought that the Barossa was lagging behind other regions in the potential to use wine shows to market their wines”, according to Phillip John.

The show was judged in two parts: Section A for wines made in the Barossa with the winners awarded a “Quality Diploma; and Section B for wines made in the Barossa from fruit grown in the Barossa with winners awarded a “Diploma of Quality and Origin”.
Both sections were considered very important, recognizing that the Barossa was not only a major wine region, but one of the main regions in Australia producing wines from fruit from other regions.