I love 1985s. In Bordeaux my favorites have been La Conseillante, Haut Brion, Leoville Las Cases, and Mouton, but even little guys like Meyney and Chasse Spleen have been really nice. The Meyney is actually my favorite of their really strong 80’s run.
I haven’t had Beaucastel for a while now but I expect it would still be excellent.
I’ve had some really nice Burgundies too. A 1985 Gerard Mugneret NSG sent me in search of their wines as it was fantastic.
If you don’t mind drinking with a bag over your head, the Silver Oak Alexander was a particularly long-lived version (even backward for a while) and really good.
Definitely Bordeaux: a wine I really adored from 1985 and it shouldn’t be too expensive is Leoville-Poyferré. But Cos is also great, yet not cheap. Even more expensive, but great: Haut Brion, Margaux, Vieux Château Certan.
Definitely Vintage Port as well
Hard to find, but 1985 was also a great Jura Vin Jaune vintage. I had several bottles of 1985 Château d’Arlay Vin Jaune, all of which were spectacular (and cost me less than 30 Euros / bottle).
Two spectacular wines in the affordable spectrum are 1985 Mas Daumas Gassac and 1985 Château Musar from Lebanon.
Super expensive, but a legend: 1985 Sassicaia. 1985 Brunello can be fantastic. I have very fond memories of the 1985 Poggio Antico and especially of the 1985 Chiesa di Santa Restituta (owned today by Gaja), both of which were around 30 Euros and spectacular for that money.
From Bordeaux my fav. are (of course) Ch.Margaux, but then LasCases (but with a high cork rate !) and several from right bank, 1st L´Eglise Clinet (! better than Petrus), then Evangile, Lafleur, Conseillante, Cheval blanc and others … also Lynch-Bages is good but a bit to “straigh” for me …
From Burgundy a lot are really fine, but hard to find or expensive … (greatest after La Tache so far was Mazis-Ch/Leroy and Charmes-Ch/Bouree ) …
Rhone: my fav (besides the LaLa´s) is Pegau Reservee, great great wine. Other CdPs are also vg (Clos des Papes, Bois de Boursan(then labelled Versino), VT … Beaucastel is vg but not great …
fine is Chave, even greater Cote Blonde/Rostaing and Jamet …
Don´t forget Champagne …
and Barolo/Barbaresco/Brunello … (not my fav. country - but Brunello/La CASA-Caparzo is usually a great bottle …
(… and of course Paul´s song, but this is from the 70ies …)
I second the motion on Port. It was a declared vintage but not a great year, so the prices are relatively low and it will last through your marriage. I just checked the Acker Auction Archives and last year you could have picked up some bottles from second tier houses for under $40 a bottle and the first tier houses for not a lot more than that. I have the Dows and the Quinta do Noval. The Dows is outstanding. The Quinta do Noval less so. It was a hard year for them. I have had the Churchill and it was also outstanding and if you find it, it is likely to be less than $40.
1985 Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia
Really dark and brooding in the glass, almost black in colour with little bricking evident. As you swirl it around it catches the light to reveal a deep pure garnet colour. The smells coming off it are divine, blackcurrant, chocolate, liquorice, white pepper, tea leaves layers and layers of fruit all swirling around in the glass. Just when you think it can’t get any better you have a sip, and there is this overwhelming sense of power of fruit and tannins which seek out every corner of your mouth. It is almost like you are holding your breath as it assaults your mouth and then there is this sense of relief akin to letting your breath out, as all of a sudden it all just makes innate sense and balances out, the fruit, the tannis, the acids – everything - and you just sit there stunned blinking, like WTF just happened then. A truly profound wine. This lives up to the hype and more. A real privilege to drink, something I’ll remember for a long time to come.
For price, quality, availability, and potential longevity, the '85 Ports are tough to beat. If the longevity genes are strong in you, you should be able to find '85 Armagnac, and in your golden years you will be glad you bought it now. A couple other things to grow old with include '85 Madeira and '85 Toro Albala Gran Reserva PX.
For near-term drinking and in the relative bargain category there is still some '85 Olga Raffault Les Picasses around. I think whatever is around is from cellar releases of older vintages they have done in recent years, so provenance is good. I had it last a couple years ago and thought it was excellent.
I wish I had kept a bottle of the '85 Mas Daumas Gassac mentioned above. I think it is considered one of their finest efforts by Broadbent the elder, and it was and likely still is excellent.
Another vote here for Port. IMHO, your best option is Fonseca. It’s probably the best bottling of the vintage (I haven’t tried the Nacional) and it’s very consistent with little bottle variation. It’s also still very young, with probably another 30 years of life in it.
Another vote for Monte Bello and Cos, both of which I’ve had reasonably recently and didn’t pay through the nose for (relatively; I agree with the caveat that no good 30-year-old wine is likely to be cheap). I’d also be willing to take a chance on Dunn Howell Mountain as a likely QPR.
For me, Dow and Fonseca are the best Vintage Ports. If you make it to Europe, the Dalva 1985 Colheita is a fantastic bargin. (Unfortunately not imported to the States.)
Thanks to all for the recs and the PMs. To add to the info, I do have some '85 Burg, Huet and Champagne. We did Haut-Brion on our 25th so I don’t mind a little splurge. It is good to hear so many votes for Port. I’ve noticed some up and down enthusiasm for 85 Port over the years.
Scott, like any other wine and vintage, not all wines come in great in a great vintage. For 1985, one real clunker amongst the big names is Taylor. The Taylor just didn’t come together and every bottle I’ve tried has been disjointed. Eric noted Dow and I’ve had a lot of good 1985 Dow bottles, but others who also drink a lot of Port have reported significant bottle variation with 1985 Dow. The Graham is excellent as is Gould Campbell. Warre is excellent as well right now, but I wouldn’t necessarily bank on it being as long lived as Fonseca or Graham. So if you’re looking for a bottling you can enjoy over many more big anniversaries, my recommendation would be Fonseca.
If not for the price, this would be a great choice. 1985 was one of the most widely excellent vintages around the world with surprisingly similar characteristic of being a warm vintage in most places. This means that wines from just about every major region have been delicious for a long time. Certainly this includes Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone, Piedmont, Tuscany, and California. The concern I would have about many of the very good recos so far in this thread is on longevity. If you want wines that will last another 30 years, they are probably few and far between. Sassicaia is one of those, but you will pay over $1000 for a bottle. I would drink as many 85’s as you can over the next 10 years, but expect only the Port to really last too much longer than that.
In addition to Sassicaia and Port, I would suggest Latour, Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva and Barolo Falletto Riserva, G. Mascarello Barolo Monprivato, G. Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia and Monfortino, Vietti Barolo Villero Riserva. Where possible, I would look for mags of 1985s.
Speaking of which, you can buy 750s, mags, and 3L bottles of 1985 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d’Abruzzo that have come straight from the winery and are terrific.
Be very wary of this wine. I have had it a dozen plus times, and less than half have been sound, but when it’s good, as Tim notes, it is a magnificent wine. But there is large percentage of wines that have had problems, the bad ones are muddy and weird and lost any fruit twenty plus years ago.
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