Bordeaux Vintage Chart – Best Vintages (2023)

Discover the ranking of the best vintages of Bordeaux from 1968 to today with the rating indicated in stars. The classification of the vintages of Bordeaux ranges from the maximum excellence of five stars, attributed exclusively to the best vintages, to a minimum of one star for the worst vintages. By consulting with the vintages it is possible to choose which Bordeaux to buy.

Also visit our archive article for more information on Bordeaux-style wines, Bordeaux-style food pairings and articles dedicated to Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc and the best vintages of Burgundy wines and Champagne for more information on the best vintages of wines French

Bordeaux Vintage Chart

The ranking summarizes the results among the best vintages of Bordeaux left bank red wines such as Bordeaux Médoc, Pessac-Léognan and right bank Bordeaux wines such as Pomerol, St.-Emilion. For more detailed information on the differences, read the paragraph on the climatic trend of the Bordeaux vintages.

Without any doubt among the best vintages of Bordeaux red wines we can find at the top the legendary vintages of 1990, 2005 and 2009, 1945 and 1961. Other sensational vintages of Bordeaux follow such as 1985, 1986, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2000. Finally, , great Bordeaux vintages such as 1975, 1978, 1983, 1988, 1995, 2001, 2010.

CLIMATIC TREND BORDEAUX VINTAGES:

What are the best Bordeaux Vintages?

Now that we have the ranking of the best vintages of Bordeaux, discover in detail the climatic trend of the vintages of Bordeaux, with an indication of the organoleptic impact on grapes and wines and the production of the vintages in hectoliters.

2018 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Bordeaux wines vintage 2018: A year of extremes with a very humid winter and spring, very damaging hail in some areas, severe threats of downy mildew in most cases and a very hot and dry summer and autumn allowed the vignerons to Decide your own collection dates. Powerful, deep-colored wines with no shortage of tannins (generally well managed) suggest this could be one of the longest-lived vintages in the region.

2017 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Bordeaux wines 2017 vintage: Frost is the main title for Bordeaux in 2017, with the lowest yield in over 25 years in the whole region. What remained of the harvest had very mixed fortunes. The best appellations of Médoc have generally performed well, while the right bank has had much more variable levels of ripeness. Although excellent wines were produced and quantities were limited, this is a vintage that failed to sell well en primeur.

2016 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Wines Bordeaux vintage 2016: The quality of Bordeaux red in 2016 was universally praised, although the response to the en primeur campaign was toned down. The quantity was also high, with the equivalent of 770 million bottles of wine produced. An exceptionally dry summer with cool nights at the end, thanks to the rains of mid-September, produced small, thick-skinned and ripe grapes, and the wines are characterized by high tannin and acidity, with a superb aromatic fragrance.

2015 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Wines Bordeaux 2015 vintage: Will this vintage adhere to Jancis’ rule of five, according to which any vintage divisible by five is of good quality? It seems so, with particularly healthy and uniform fruit when harvested. Generous flowering and the onset of hot, dry summer was followed by a slightly cooler and wetter August. The harvest was generally earlier than in 2014. The optimists already define it as the best vintage since 2010 with the first reports in favor of the right bank.

2014 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Bordeaux wines 2014 vintage: July and August exceptionally cool and humid, but the vintage was saved by an unusually dry and warm September and October that (almost) ripened the grapes even though the autumn concentration led to relatively acid wines. The reds have scent, medium body and soft tannins, but are not intended for long-term aging.

2013 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Wines Bordeaux vintage 2013: A universally poor year, plagued by irregular maturation and dilution. Rot forced a relatively early harvest. Even at their best, the wines are quite light, although perhaps a benefit of this is the lower alcohol levels, compared to some of the 15% bruises of recent years. The best of a bad lot can be found in Pomerol, St-Julien and St-Estèphe.

2012 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Wines Bordeaux vintage 2012: Difficult in many European wine regions, and none more so than Bordeaux. Overall, it was a rainy year-end with a hot mid-summer. Bad weather in October compromised quality at the crucial moment, meaning early ripening Merlot-based reds were less affected. Making a good Cabernet-based wine was achievable, but only by those who had the resources for micro-management in the vineyard. The best properties have produced small amounts of exceptional wines, but most have a lack of depth and persistence.

2011 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Bordeaux wines vintage 2011: Generalizations are difficult in this variable year, but there is agreement that the quality is back down to earth after the emotions of 2009 and 2010, with a lower alcohol content and generally higher tannins . A year to forget.

2010 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Bordeaux wines vintage 2010: Another stellar vintage, with higher tannins and more freshness than 2009 but comparable intensity. More captivating for classic palates.

2009 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Bordeaux wines vintage 2019: ‘Vintage of the decade / century’? This growing season seemed to have it all. A long, beautiful and hot summer but, above all, with refreshing nights to help retain acidity. Dramatically ripe, voluptuous wines, especially on the left bank.

2008 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Wines Bordeaux vintage 2008: Another ungenerous summer saved by better weather at the end of the season. Once again, those treetop properties managed to field enough good fruit to save some pretty impressive grand vins, but life was getting tougher down the food chain.

2007 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Bordeaux wines 2007 vintage: An extremely difficult year for growers, with rampant mold, little sun, too much rain until September. Thanks to an arsenal of modern techniques, not least a rigorous selection, those who could afford it managed to produce attractive wines to drink relatively early, but the high prices left the primeur market flat as a pancake.

2006 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Bordeaux wines vintage 2006: This stop-start harvest inevitably suffered compared to 2005, although it produced well-made wines that look even better than in 2007. Drought and high temperatures were the dominant characteristics until the end of July. , but August was unusually cool and humid and the harvest was interrupted by rain. Pauillac and Pomerol seemed to be giving their best in a year which can have a rather crunchy flavor.

2005 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

2005 Bordeaux wines: Manual perfection during the growing season in all respects except price. Better to keep it for many years. The fairly marked tannins are too marked in some wines, in particular the more modernist St-Émilions, in which the then prevalent fashion for extraction was taken to the limit.

2004 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Wines Bordeaux vintage 2004: The last convenient vintage? The large and late harvest needed meticulous summer supervision. The grapes were often harvested in the rain but healthy at the top. Not huge, but the best are really that rare breed, the classic claret. Best on the left bank, where the mushy tannins suggest they might be ready to be enjoyed by 2010.

2003 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

2003 Bordeaux wines: An exceptional heat wave led to many dried grapes and unpleasantly dry tannins. A handful of long-term jaw-dropping wines, but most are probably best drunk as the prime of youth can distract from that dryness.

2002 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Wines Bordeaux vintage 2002: A tiny harvest, hampered by an irregular flowering and a gray and humid summer, which meant an irregular ripening in grapes that were anything but uniform. Growers have been focusing on the saving effect of good weather since 9 September. The wines are correct and, in a 21st century context, they are not expensive, but they may not last that long.

2001 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Wines Bordeaux vintage 2001: Extremely varied, great harvest that depended on thinning and extremely careful selection to produce exceptional wines. The hot August was followed by a dangerously humid September, which at times resulted in diluted Merlots and tart Cabernets. Some good value to find here, and over time the 2001 years have gotten better and better, especially on the right bank where it can be over 2000.

2000 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Wines Bordeaux vintage 2000: The benevolence of nature coincided with the commercial imperative to have a good vintage in this numerically exceptional vintage. Great consistency and balance. Petits châteaux have represented some of Bordeaux’s best values ​​for many years, although most are ready to drink or even begin to decline. The best wines should last until the second or even third decade.

1999 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Wines Bordeaux vintage 1999: The good potential created almost exclusively by three weeks of sunshine from the end of August was diluted by the rain at harvest time. Hail also devastated some vineyards of St-Émilion in early September. A cool, wet start to the growing season initially led to overgrowing. Rather early ripening wines with better potential on the left bank.

1998 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Bordeaux wines 1998 vintage: Very good on the right bank, but a less star-studded performance in the Médoc, whose 90s are a bit stolid, means these wines, and their equally successful counterparts in Graves, tend to be overlooked.

1997 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

1997 Bordeaux vintage wines: Far from the dramatic and early developers, these wines were ridiculously overpriced at first, but provided some drinkability in the early years of this century. Few show room for improvement.

1996 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Bordeaux wines vintage 1997: Some very fine and potentially long-lived wines, especially in the Médoc, even if the levels of robust tannins in many cases recall those of 1986.

1995 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Wines Bordeaux vintage 1997: The hot and dry summer led to an early harvest of healthy Merlot grapes. The relatively tannic Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested after a week of rain in mid-September. Abundant crop levels, best in Pomerol and Pauillac.

1994 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Wines Bordeaux vintage 1994: The best year since 1990 (which doesn’t say much). Well mature, but the September rains were again a problem for less conscientious producers.

1993 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Wines Bordeaux vintage 1993: Another wet harvest. Previously chosen, the right bank is a better bet than the left one.

1992 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Wines Bordeaux vintage 1992: Wines light, fruity, easy to drink early.

1991 –Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Bordeaux wines vintage 1991: The beginning of the Bordeaux series of misfortunes. Spring frosts have decimated the right bank, but the best Médocs aren’t bad.

1990 – Migliori Annate Bordeaux

Wines Bordeaux vintage 1990: Second consecutive hot year. Very mature and seductive wines at all levels, many exceptional. The vintage character of the velvety texture and the succulent fruit, almost overripe, is one of the easiest to identify and tends to impose itself on any geographical feature.

1989 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

1989 Bordeaux wines: At the time it seemed like an unusually hot summer, producing a huge harvest of rich, opulent and expensive wines, to be drunk surprisingly well young. Some great right bank wines indeed. It is an exceptional year for Haut-Brion.

1988 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Wines Bordeaux vintage 1988: Shadowed since 1989 and 1990. ‘Classic’ style, that is, decisive and initially a little austere. Big and chewy.

1987 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Wines Bordeaux vintage 1987: Simple, fruity and pleasant but not very exciting. Early ripening.

1986 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Wines Bordeaux vintage 1986: Dense, threatening and fiercely tannic at the beginning. Some may impress in the end, but they took enormous patience.

1985 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Wines Bordeaux vintage 1985: Wines uniformly beautiful and fragrant, above all but not exclusively from the right bank. They’ve held up well for years, but most are losing fruit or showing a slight herbaceousness now.

1983 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Wines Bordeaux vintage 1983: Good but less concentrated and opulent than 1982. Their lower amount of filling meant that most of them peaked, although it was an exceptional year for Margaux for once.

1982 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Wines Bordeaux vintage 1982: Legendary year, the first of the modern era. Horribly expensive but very concentrated and so delicious. The best are still going very strong.

1981 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Wines Bordeaux vintage 1981: Irregular quality, with a lack of courage but an attractive balance. Most are well over the hill.

1979 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Wines Bordeaux 1979 vintage: Gracious, sweet and balanced for a while, but should have been drunk in the 20th century.

1978 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Wines Bordeaux vintage 1978: A perfect autumn saved the harvest. The big left bank names are the strongest.

1975 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Bordeaux wines vintage 1975: Often overwhelmed by dry tannins. Some Pomerol and Pauillac are huge and magnificent.

1970 – Bordeaux Vintage Chart

Bordeaux wines vintage 19780: These firm and robust wines, much of their time, have lasted well but are generally rather short on pulp.

What is the best Bordeaux vintage?

What are the best vintages of Bordeaux? With the description of the climatic trend it is possible to understand many aspects. However, it remains important to underline that each winery that produces Bordeaux boasts vineyards with their own microclimate with their own specificities, which can also differ substantially.

It is therefore essential to evaluate the best vintages of Bordeaux also on the merits of the wines themselves, not only by generalizing evaluations that have not always turned out to be so unique for everyone. In fact, in the last few years, many of the Bordeaux vintages considered to be less fortunate have had the opportunity to redeem themselves by contradicting the forecasts. We therefore invite you to discover the uniqueness of your best Bordeaux vintages and your favorite wines.