Thinking Bordeaux, I seem to recall there was a run of pretty bad years there - 67, 68 and 69, followed by a pretty decent 1970. But what about Sauternes? Good weather in 69 for botrytised dessert wine or stay away? And how about down in Portugal? 69 or 70 for vintage Port?
Thanks for the help!
67 Sauternes and VP 1970 are great vintages. I’ve bought some Italian stuff from 1969 for my 50th birthday next fall, despite being aware of that they will most likely largely underperform.
I had researched the 1969 thing for a friend - it’s pretty grim. I ended up going with California Cab (BV Latour) and Brunello (Biondi Santi). Both were good although the BV was a little long in the tooth - and that was 15+ years ago
Thought that this thread was going to be ‘better Stooges song?’ And i was on the fence as to my response.
I’m going to have to look that up!
I was recently at a 50th birthday party hosted by someone with a ridiculously deep cellar. So the theme was loosely 1969. He brought out a '69 Champagne (Roederer Cristal, which was interesting but barely so) and a '69 red Burg (Leroy Chambertin, which was quite good if not anything epic), but for the Bordeaux he went with '70 and for dessert a '67 Sauternes. Had there been any worthy '69 Bordeaux or Sauternes I imagine it would have been served.
'69 was both great for Champagne and Red Burgs but many are getting tired. '69 La Mouline is an all-time great but costs a fortune.
'70 is excellent for a number of Ports, and a few Right Bank Bordeaux with Trotanoy being my favorite, especially when factoring in cost vs Petrus.
Okay, for my preferences re: the Stooges - 1969 ;p
But back to the wine! A magnum of 70 Vieux Chateau Certan? Other than price any reason to avoid?
‘70 La Fleur Pétrus delicious. ‘70 Pétrus incredible (the price as well). Haven’t had ‘70 Trotanoy though. Time to seek some out. Thanks for the recommendation.
Best,
N
'70 Haut Brion is special, Margaux is good too.
Some good white wines out of the Loire in 1969, also the Southern Rhone. Chateau Musar also good.
1970 Fonseca
1970 Palmer
1969 Heitz Martha’s
I’ve got a bottle 1970 Taylor’s VP coming from Winebid tomorrow. Can’t wait to try it. Several years ago I bought a 1970 Mondavi Cab that was pretty good. The 1969 Mondavi Cab I bought for my wife that same year wasn’t too good.
1970 Ducru Beaucaillou
1970 Latour
1970 Figeac
1970 Magdelaine
1970 was a good year in Rioja and many are still in good shape. Had a '70 Ardanza and Taylor-Fladgate last year for my partner’s bday, and both showed well. Have a couple more Rioja’s teed up for this year’s bday (CVNE Imperial Reserva + Franco-Espanolas Cosecha Especial). And then '70 Mouton, Montrose and Guiraud stashed for his 50th!
'69 Loire for sure. Baumard Coteaux du Layon Clos Ste. Catherine is not super-sweet, but built for the long haul. I think the Quarts du Chaume would be great too. Clos du Papillon might be really cool if you tolerate a bit of oxidation. I have to imagine Huets would hold interest, but I’ve never been offered '69, only '71s (which hold promise for the future).
'70 VP an easy win for dessert - available, not too expensive, and great wines. I like the Graham and Fonseca.
You could do a cheese course with one and dessert with the other if you did sweet Loire and VP. Both would fit in the meal. Throw the '67 d’Yquem into a Foie Gras course and you fill in the blanks with a Champagne, a '69 Burg, and some '70 Bordeaux.
Have fun.
fred
Many good points here. !967 has some nice surprises in Pomerol!
1969 can also be great for white Burgundies! Not that they are easy to find…
No.
In my experience,
1967 and 1971 were the vintages around that era for Sauternes.
I have had a number of really excellent 1970 Bordeauxs that are holding up really well (some friends and I had a 1970 and 1982 Lynch Bages together a couple of years ago and I preferred the 1970!!!). I think this is a wonderful vintage with a huge caveat that a whole bunch of producers were vastly underperforming at the time and so there are a lot of high priced duds (like Lafite). Wonderful 1970s have included Palmer, Latour, Leoville Barton, Leoville Poyferre (I wish they would go back to making wines like this), Haut Brion, and others.
I have had a number of really excellent red Burgundies from 1969 and 1971, but have not tasted any in a long time.
1970 is really good for port.
1971 is a legendary vintage for German wines.
There were a number of really good California wines in 1970. Two that I distinctly remember are BV Private Reserve and Sterling Reserve. Do not know how they are holding up.