1987

Jaboulet vintage report: In the northernmost part, the harvest began on September 22 and ended on October 16. An exceptionally mild autumn, with several beneficial showers. This is a good time to note that over the last decade or so we have seen a change in the seasons. That is to say poor springs and good autumns, with many more good vintages as a result. This remark is further justified by the vintages of 1988, 1989 and 1990.

A mild ...

The 1987 Bordeaux vintage was an overcast, damp, and weather-challenged harvest across both banks that produced early-drinking, light-to-medium-bodied wines characterized by soft, delicate fruit and lower tannin profiles. Following a cold winter and a rainy spring that caused widespread coulure and reduced potential yields, a warm, dry July offered temporary promise before August and September brought persistent rains and limited sunshine, impeding full phenolic ripeness and threatening grape health with rot.

Left Bank Cabernet Sauvignon struggled to achieve complete maturity, resulting in lean, fresh wines with prominent herbal notes and crisp acidity, while Right Bank Merlot fared slightly better where vineyard managers practiced rigorous sorting to eliminate compromised bunches.

While the 1987 First Growths—including Château Lafite Rothschild and Château Haut-Brion—managed to craft supple, charming, and highly aromatic wines featuring notes of red currant, cedarwood, pencil shavings, and sweet tobacco, the vintage lacked the structural concentration and power for long-term cellaring, positioning 1987 as a vintage best enjoyed in its youthful prime over the subsequent fifteen to twenty years.

The 1987 Burgundy vintage was a cool, protracted, and weather-challenged harvest that ultimately produced light-to-medium-bodied, acid-driven red wines and relatively supple, elegant whites across the Côte d’Or. Following a cold winter and an unusually chilly, damp spring that delayed flowering and reduced fruit set, the summer brought erratic temperatures punctuated by periodic rain showers that kept sugars low and natural acidity high. A wet September further heightened the threat of rot, forcing vineyard managers to engage in rigorous sorting to eliminate compromised fruit before vinification.

For Pinot Noir, 1987 resulted in fresh, pale-colored reds with high-toned red-berry aromatics—such as tart red cherry, cranberry, wild strawberry, forest floor, and delicate herbal spice—supported by firm, lean tannins and a prominent acid backbone; while lacking the concentration and weight of warmer vintages like 1985 or 1988, top premier and grand cru bottlings from conscientious domaines developed a subtle, Burgundian savory charm for midterm drinking. Meanwhile, Chardonnay fared moderately better in the Côte de Beaune, producing crisp, citrus-forward white Burgundies with bright minerality that were best enjoyed in their youthful prime over the subsequent decade.

Champagne: Generally speaking, the rainy year produced a meager harvest, and it was impossible to produce good vintage wines. This year, the region's interest group, CIVC, introduced new regulations to improve the quality of champagnes. Winegrowers received greater compensation when they sold grapes and not wine. For producers, however, it was made so that purchasing ready wine was more expensive than the grapes themselves. This year has been the sabbatical of the decade. It was still not enough to save the poor harvest year of 1987.

The spring was exceptionally rainy and the summer continued in the same vein. In between, however, there was a favorable time for inflorescences in June. In August, there were three more good weeks before the fall rains and mold problems. A few announced that they had made vintage wine, but in general the vintage was really modest and was used only for non-vintage wines.

The 1987 California wine vintage was defined by a warm, dry, and exceptionally early growing season that yielded deeply rich, concentrated, and opulent red wines across Napa Valley and Sonoma County. Following a mild winter and a warm spring that prompted early budbreak, the summer brought steady, elevated heat that accelerated sugar accumulation and thickened grape skins, leading to one of the earliest harvests on record as winemakers rushed to pick before acidity dropped.

For Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux-style blends, 1987 proved to be a powerful, hedonistic vintage characterized by deep garnet colors, intense aromas of black currant liqueur, wild blackberry, espresso bean, dark chocolate, sweet cedar, and eucalyptus, supported by firm, ripe, and muscular tannins.

While slightly less structured and acid-driven than the cooler 1987 European vintages, the top California Cabernets from premier Napa producers—such as Robert Mondavi Reserve, Opus One, Dominus, Caymus, and Spottswoode—possessed the intense fruit extract and density required to evolve gracefully for three to four decades, standing as a benchmark for rich, late-1980s Napa Valley winemaking.

The 1987 Australian wine vintage was a cooler, prolonged, and remarkably elegant growing season that stands as one of the quintessential classic vintages of the 1980s, particularly across South Australia’s premier regions like the Coonawarra, Barossa Valley, and Margaret River. Following a mild spring and a temperate summer free from destructive heatwaves, the grapes underwent a slow, even maturation process that preserved striking natural acidity, vibrant fruit aromatics, and lower potential alcohol levels.

In the Coonawarra, the legendary terra rossa soils produced medium-bodied, tightly structured Cabernet Sauvignons with razor-sharp focus—showing high-toned aromas of cassis, eucalyptus, dried mint, cedar, and graphite—which allowed iconic bottlings like Wynns John Riddoch and Penfolds Bin 707 to evolve with majestic, slow-burning grace for over three decades. Meanwhile, in the Barossa Valley, the moderate temperatures prevented Shiraz from becoming overly jammy, instead yielding deeply fragrant, savory, and spicy red wines—exemplified by Penfolds Grange—that balanced concentrated dark plum and blackberry fruit with fine-grained, muscular tannins and a long, refreshing finish that made 1987 an enduring benchmark for classic Australian cellaring potential.

Italy Vintage report by Tb: 1987 was an agricultural campaign which produced average wines, rather short-lived. After a cold winter, a dry and raw spring slowly brought the vineyards to life. The entire summer and fall were fairly cool and dry, producing an average but quality harvest. In Tuscany, the flowering phase took place in magnificent weather until the rains at harvest time spoiled what was shaping up to be an excellent year. In Montalcino, ripe grapes were harvested before the rains, resulting in an abundant harvest of exceptional quality.

However, the wines are currently at their best and will not gain further ground in bottle maturation. The surprise of the year was the Castello di Ama L’Apparita Merlot 1987, where it placed first in a Swiss Merlot competition in 1992. The Château Petrus 1988 placed second.

The 1987 Portuguese wine vintage was defined by a cool, protracted growing season that favored finesse, vibrant acidity, and elegant aromatic precision over raw concentration across both the Douro Valley and the classic table wine regions. Following a wet spring that naturally thinned yields, a relatively mild summer with few extreme heatwaves allowed grapes to undergo a slow, extended maturation process, preserving crisp natural acidity and bright floral nuances.

In the Douro, the harvest produced exceptionally balanced, fresh base wines; while not a universally declared major vintage for Port—as many shippers chose to hold back declarations following the hotter, more tannic 1985s—it yielded a selection of refined single-quinta Vintage Ports and fortified reserves of outstanding purity and elegance. Meanwhile, in emerging table wine appellations like the Dão, Bairrada, and Alentejo, 1987 marked another crucial post-EEC entry step where cooler conditions enabled indigenous red varieties like Touriga Nacional and Baga to be crafted into harmonious, lower-alcohol, and savory red wines that aged gracefully into complex, tertiary classics.

The 1987 Spanish wine vintage was defined by a cooler, more elongated growing season that produced elegant, highly aromatic, and beautifully balanced red wines across Rioja and Ribera del Duero. Following an unstable, rainy spring that lowered overall yields across northern Spain, the summer brought steady, moderate heat without the blistering heatwaves of 1986, allowing Tempranillo grapes to achieve extended phenolic ripeness while preserving a bright, vibrant spine of natural acidity.

In Rioja, officially rated as Buena (Good), top houses like La Rioja Alta, Faustino, and Marqués de Murrieta crafted medium-bodied, savory Gran Reservas boasting lifted aromas of dried cherries, red currants, sweet tobacco, leather, and dill-infused American oak, backed by fine-grained tannins that evolved with great grace over three decades. Meanwhile, in Ribera del Duero, cooler autumn nights allowed iconic estates like Vega Sicilia to harvest deeply complex, structured fruit that translated into an extraordinary vintage for Unico, showing a classic, tightly wound profile of dark plum, graphite, wild herbs, and crushing mineral earth built for multi-decade cellar longevity.

The 1987 German wine vintage was a late, cool, and frost-affected harvest that ultimately turned into a triumph for noble sweet wines—most notably across the Mosel, Rheingau, and Nahe regions—while dry styles struggled under high, searing natural acidity. Following a severe winter that brought destructive spring frosts and a chilly, rainy flowering period that significantly reduced crop yields, the growing season remained cool and sluggish through mid-summer. However, an exceptionally sunny, dry, and mild October rescued the vintage, providing an extended hang-time that allowed Riesling grapes to gradually achieve phenolic ripeness while retaining vibrant, laser-like acidity.

While trocken (dry) and cabinet-level wines were often lean and sharply tart, the long autumn permitted widespread development of Botrytis cinerea(noble rot), enabling top estates like Egon Müller, Joh. Jos. Prüm, and Schloss Johannisberg to craft stunning, intensely concentrated Auslese, Beerenauslese (BA), and Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) bottlings that balanced brilliant sweetness with electric acid backbones, allowing these legendary sweet Rieslings to age gracefully for four to five decades.

Napa Valley by Bob Levy / Harlan Estate

A very good vintage overall in Napa Valley. A year of mild drought, with a drier than normal winter, followed by a cool spring and flowering in mid-May. The heat peaks of June and July punctuated the summer. Voraison was finished on July 27. Two rare thunderstorms in August and September only added to the excitement of an early harvest, resulting in a very small harvest gleaned from our first six bearing acres.

Champagne: Generally speaking, the rainy year produced a meager harvest, and it was impossible to produce good vintage wines. This year, the region's interest group, CIVC, introduced new regulations to improve the quality of champagnes. Winegrowers received greater compensation when they sold grapes and not wine. For producers, however, it was made so that purchasing ready wine was more expensive than the grapes themselves. This year has been the sabbatical of the decade. It was still not enough to save the poor harvest year of 1987.

The spring was exceptionally rainy and the summer continued in the same vein. In between, however, there was a favorable time for inflorescences in June. In August, there were three more good weeks before the fall rains and mold problems. A few announced that they had made vintage wine, but in general the vintage was really modest and was used only for non-vintage wines.