1978

Vintage Report by Angelo Gaja: Finally, 1978 was a famous vintage, a great vintage. Indeed, it was a special vintage. The grapes ripened very slowly. It was a very closed vintage and difficult to understand. He only began to discover its quality after fifteen or twenty years. It took time. It was a type of miracle that Nebbiolo can sometimes do. Vintages considered average quality may show better wine than we expect. Some vintages are like that.

Bordeaux Vintage Report / 1978 turned out to be a very good vintage particularly in Pauillac and St Julien.

“The miracle vintage”. Just about everything that could go wrong went wrong until mid-August. But thanks to the beautiful sun and the heat from that moment on, the vintage was saved. The best wines come from Médoc and Graves. Château La Mission Haut Brion produces the wine of the vintage. I had very good bottles of Châteaux Margaux, Léoville Las Cases, Latour, Haut Brion, Cheval Blanc, Pichon Lalande and Palmer. Most wines should be drunk soon.

It would be wise to choose the best chateaux of this vintage just because some of the lesser estates are on the hill. The best will continue to drink until 2010-2012. Lafite Rothschild is the wine of the vintage.

Napa Valley vintage report: Wet spring led to concerns about early botrytis, but desired warm weather followed bloom. From then on, it was a classic ripening season with a heat wave arriving just before the start of the harvest. The harvest was frenetic and some grapes became too ripe. But the size of the harvest was large enough to compensate for two years of drought. Cabernets are large in scale, sometimes with excess alcohol. The best ones are ripe, concentrated, with firming acids and lots of tannin that have sustained them for two decades. Although all have peaked, a surprising number of them are still in good shape today.

The Napa cabernet was solid, with just a few overzealous winemakers making unbalanced tannin monsters. Sonoma Valley experienced similar weather and similar luck in '78, with Kenwood's Artist Series, Silver Oak and St. Jean emerging as Sonoma County leaders. Over the first ten to fifteen years, 78s generally aged well. As aging continued, the 78s focused their attention on the cooler Stags Leap quarter, which enjoyed several successes and longevity in this otherwise warm vintage.

Australian Vintage Report: A drier than average vintage followed by a wet April produced average yields and 'good, solid' reds with exceptional quality Eden Valley Rieslings. In 1978 there were 8,057 hectares of vines in the Barossa and 40,980 tonnes of wine grapes were crushed in that vintage.

The Barossa was now facing a serious glut of red grapes. In fact, a surplus of 21,400 tonnes of Shiraz, Grenache, Mataro and Cabernet Sauvignon existed in South Africa. Prices fell and wine growers had no choice but to leave the grapes on the vine to avoid the added cost of hand-picking. Winegrower-manager at Saltram, Peter Lehmann decided to honor his commitment to the winegrowers and offer them a little yield by taking their fruit, crushing it and making wine for sale.

Further east, the Shiraz muffin concept was launched to address the oversupply of red grapes in the Riverland and Sunraysia regions.
Growers have shown interest in new white varieties, particularly Chardonnay, and have adopted cost- and labor-saving technologies such as machine pruning. Experimental machine pruning has started at Seppelts (28 ha), Penfolds (16 ha), Rex Craker (10 ha), Orlando (60 ha).

The first decanter centrifuge was introduced, and wineries that still persisted in fortified winemaking faced a significant glut of brandy.

Rhöne vintage report by Jaboulet: The total harvest of Côtes du Rhône wines is 1,858,004 Hl. In the northernmost part, the harvest began on October 5 and ended on October 23. Autumn becomes cold after several sunny days. Winter is cold and snowy. Spring is cold and very humid; Growth is slowed. Helicopter spraying is being tested for the first time on HERMITAGE, with good results. Flowering only begins on June 15. July, August and September are very good months.

Burgundy: In 1961, Bordeaux had the last word; in 1978, Burgundy reigned supreme. A wet June led to patchy flowering. Less summer sun than usual, but an exceptional late Indian summer - late August and September made this a legendary vintage. Harmonious, silky and structured wines with great length. One of the best vintages of the century.

Bordeaux Vintage 1978 Report from Château Latour: After a mild and rainy winter, bud burst took place at the end of March. The month of April was humid and temperatures remained low during the first half of May. The end of May was warmer and growth accelerated. Flowering started slowly and lasted almost three weeks. Temperatures remained below the seasonal average in July. The start of August was cool and the upper Azores settled into the Bay of Biscay from August 10 and remained there until the end of the harvest, creating the perfect warm and dry conditions to accelerate the ripening of the grapes. A few showers at the end of September limited the effects of what was becoming a drought. The harvest took place from October 9 to 20. The grapes were in perfect sanitary conditions, with thick skins and promising sugar levels.

1978 Following on from the oil crisis Japanese car Imports account for half the US import market. The first first ever Cellular Mobile Phone History of Mobile Phones is introduced in Illinois and Space Invaders appears in arcades Launching a Craze for Computer Video Games . Sweden is the first country in the world to recognize the effect of aerosol sprays on the Ozone Layer and bans the sale. The Serial killer David Berkowitz, "Son of Sam," is convicted of murder after terrorizing New York for 12 months. 1978 is also a great year for movies with Grease summer opening on June 16th , Saturday Night Fever and Close Encounters of the Third Kind all showing in Movie Theatres around the world.