1970 Wine and Port Vintage
Vintage Summary and Recommendations:

Welcome to Vintage Wine and Port's 1970 wine page. Read on for our summary of the 1970 vintage, our top recommendations and region reports. Scroll down to see all of our wines currently available. If you cannot find what you are looking for please call us on 01425 837177 or Contact Us. We would love to help you with your wine choice!
n France, Bordeaux enjoyed a legendary vintage for both its dry wines and the sweet wines of Sauternes. The Burgundy vintage was also very good. Champagne, Alsace and the Loire Valley also enjoyed excellent years and many great wines were made. For the Rhône valley, the vintage was legendary particularly for southern Rhône reds.Italy enjoyed a spectacular year and both Piedmont and Tuscany produced rich, age-worthy wines. Port also experienced a legendary year – and many of the wines will still be drinking brilliantly now – as did neighbouring Spain, which also made many fine reds. Any of these wines would make a fabulous 55 year old wine gift for an Anniversary or birthday.
Our Wine Expert currently recommends the following wines for this year:
This Year in History: Fun Fact: Fast food restaurants serving hamburgers, fried chicken and French fries arrived in Britain and became popular during the 1970s.
Eurovision Winner: Ireland with the song "All Kinds of Everything" by Dana
Top Grossing Movie: Love Story
Bordeaux: An outstanding vintage, against which others are often compared. The 1970 is the best vintage between the outstanding years of 1961 and 1982. Perfect weather led to huge crop that set a record at the time, but was also of a high quality across all regions. The wines generally have a dark colour, are fragrant, have full body and a richness of fruit. The wines produced are consistent and will continue to drink well for decades to come.
Italian: The Italian 1970 wine vintage was an outstanding one for the wine regions of Tuscany and Piedmont. The 1970 wine vintage produced rich, structured, full bodied wines that are still drinking well today. In Tuscany the spring was unusually cold resulting in a late bud break. This was mitigated by a long hot summer which continued well into autumn. The producers took advantage to harvest late, obtaining very good sugar levels. The vintage was excellent for Chianti and Brunello. In Piedmont, it was a very good vintage obscured by legendary 1971 vintage. Barolo, Barbaresco, Nebbiolo all shine through.
Portugal: The 1970 Port Vintage was universally declared as a vintage of outstanding quality. Ideal growing conditions produced what is now a classic, outstanding vintage. The 1970 port wines have great balance, good structure, and will age superbly for decades to come. Declared by all the major port houses, 1970 is one of the finest Port vintages for the last 55 years - a bottle from this year would make a stunning wine gift for a birthday or anniversary.
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127 products found.
Recioto, 1970
Fratelli Bolla, Sweet Red Wine
"Recioto," as in "Recioto della Valpolicella," refers to a dessert wine made from grapes that were dried on mats after picking. This process turns the grapes closer to raisins, concentrating the flavors. The wines are lovely and taste how you'd expect raisins-turned-wine to taste, rich and sweet.
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Price: £129.00
Stock: 1 in Stock
Rioja, 1970
Carta de Oro - Berberana
Wine from Rioja (and Ribera del Duero), aged for at least two years in oak and three years in the bottle, made primarily from the Tempranillo grape. Light and red-brown in colour, with intense vanilla aromas and substantial earthy flavour notes. Significant acidity and medium alcohol.
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Price: £89.00
Stock: 5 in Stock
Rivera, 1970
Castel del Monte
Clearance Offer - Last Few | Was £79 | Now £34.90
It was in the early 1900s that Giuseppe de Corato acquired the vast Rivera tenuta, or estate, in the territory of Andria, and planted it to vines, olives, and grain. Fifty years later, his son Sebastiano founded the Azienda Vinicola Rivera, inspired by his vision of realising the enormous viticultural potential of the Castel del Monte area. The old cellar was renovated, the vineyards replanted, and that era's most up-to-date practices adopted, and high-quality wine was the result. Widespread recognition quickly followed, and Rivera became the benchmark of Apulia wine production and the force driving its rebirth. …
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Price: £34.90
Stock: 1 in Stock
Rosso, 1970
Cilento, Cantina Soc di Cilento
Very forward nose of leather and cherries, liquorice wild strawberries, ripe plums and pencil .The palate is very nice balance of sweet fruit and acidity.
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Price: £59.00
Stock: 1 in Stock
Rosso del Salento, 1970
Tenuta Ursi - Leone de Castris
Fine ruby red colour with slight orange shade with ageing. Full fragance, heavy and enduring bouquet. Moderate dry with elegant bitter finish, robust and full-bodied
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Price: £59.00
Stock: 3 in Stock
San Michele, 1970
Gigi Santinoli
Red cherry red with ruby highlights. Fine and intense nose, with floral and fruity scents. The flavour is dry, fine and fruity with high acidity and a slight almond aftertaste.
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Price: £59.00
Stock: 2 in Stock
Sangiovese di Romagna, 1970
Zanzi Faenza
Clearance Offer due to damaged label | Was £99 | Now £49
Good-quality Sangiovese is prized for its high acid, firm tannins and balanced nature. Savory flavors of dark cherries and black stone fruit are characteristic, and may be backed by secondary notes of tomato leaf and dried herbs. The use of oak has become more popular and this coaxes richer flavors from the grapes, tending toward plum and wild raspberry.
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Price: £49.00
Stock: 2 in Stock
Sangiovese di Romagna, 1970
Cesari ** BIG BOTTLE OF 3,78 LITERS **
Good-quality Sangiovese is prized for its high acid, firm tannins and balanced nature. Savory flavors of dark cherries and black stone fruit are characteristic, and may be backed by secondary notes of tomato leaf and dried herbs. The use of oak has become more popular and this coaxes richer flavors from the grapes, tending toward plum and wild raspberry.
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Price: £349.00
Stock: 1 in Stock
Sassella, 1970
Enologica Valtelinese
Valtellina Superiore Sassella wines are made under the Valtellina Superiore DOCG, specifically from grapes grown in the village of Sassella. Sassella is one of five viticultural sub-zones specifically identified as producing Valtellina wines of particularly high quality: the other four are Grumello, Inferno, Maroggia and Valgella. Sassella is considered to be the finest of these, and the pinnacle of the Valtellina viticultural zone.
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Price: £69.00
Stock: 7 in Stock
Sassella, 1970
Fratelli Bettini
Clearance Offer - Last Few | Was £79 | Now £32.70
Valtellina Superiore Sassella wines are made under the Valtellina Superiore DOCG, specifically from grapes grown in the village of Sassella. Sassella is one of five viticultural sub-zones specifically identified as producing Valtellina wines of particularly high quality: the other four are Grumello, Inferno, Maroggia and Valgella. Sassella is considered to be the finest of these, and the pinnacle of the Valtellina viticultural zone.
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Price: £32.70
Stock: 3 in Stock
Sizzano, 1970
Cantina Sociale Sizzano & Ghemme
Clearance Offer - Last Bottle | Was £69 | Now 34.70
The wines Sizzano must be made from grapes coming from the following varieties: Nebbiolo (Span): 50-70%; Vespolina and Uva Rara (Bonarda Novarese) alone or in combination 30-50%. Colour: ruby red with garnet; Bouquet: vinous, typical, with hints of violet, fine and pleasant; Flavour: dry, full-bodied and harmonious with a slightly bitter aftertaste; Aging: "Sizzano": at least 22 months of which at least 18 in wood; "Sizzano Reserve": at least 34 months of which at least 24 in wood.
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Price: £34.70
Stock: 1 in Stock
Taylor Fladgate, 1970
Colheita Single Harvest Port
Includes Taylor's oak gift case
Taylor’s has an extensive and enviable library of very old Ports and each year they release a 50 year old Single Harvest Port which represents the cream of their aged reserves.
Often referred to as Colheitas, these single harvest Tawny ports are a far cry from vintage port with very slow and gentle ageing in oak casks creating ports of extreme aromatic complexity with delightfully mellow structure. And the 1970 Port vintage was of one outstanding quality - ideal growing conditions produced what is now a classic vintage - universally declared by all the major port houses.
Taylors wine maker review:
Pale mahogany core surrounded by a broad pale gold rim with subtle olive highlights. …
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Price: £240.00
Stock: 3 in Stock
Taylor Fladgate, 1970
Vintage Port Excellent Levels
The 1970 Taylor's Vintage Port is a consistently high performer and rated as one of the best of the 1970 ports.
99 points Wine Enthusiast
This wine's dark garnet color with minimal bricking suggests a relatively youthful wine and this certainly could age longer, although it's also delicious now. Wonderfully complex floral and herbal scents easily move into deep, rich flavors of chocolate and cherries, sprinkled with a healthy dose of Douro minerality and spice. Drink or hold. (JC) (2/2007)
98 points Vinous
The 1970 Taylor's Vintage Port has a tight nose, youthful with notes of liquorice, raisin, boot-polish and lemongrass. …
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Price: £199.00
Stock: 1 in Stock
Taylor Fladgate, 1970
Vintage Port Unlabelled
The 1970 Taylor's Vintage Port is a consistently high performer and rated as one of the best of the 1970 ports.
99 points Wine Enthusiast
This wine's dark garnet color with minimal bricking suggests a relatively youthful wine and this certainly could age longer, although it's also delicious now. Wonderfully complex floral and herbal scents easily move into deep, rich flavors of chocolate and cherries, sprinkled with a healthy dose of Douro minerality and spice. Drink or hold. (JC) (2/2007)
98 points Vinous
The 1970 Taylor's Vintage Port has a tight nose, youthful with notes of liquorice, raisin, boot-polish and lemongrass. …
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Price: £185.00
Stock: 1 in Stock
Valpolicella
F.lli Fabiano
Clearance Offer - Last Few | Was £89 | Now £40
The Valpolicella zone is bordered to the west by the Bardolino DOC, located along the banks of Lake Garda, which produces similar wines to basic Valpolicella using many of the same grapes. The historical "heart" of Valpolicella winemaking is in the Monti Lessini hills located northwest of the town of Verona. In 1968, the boundaries of the region were extended far eastward towards the DOC production zone of Soave and south to the plains of the northern bank of the Po river and its tributary the Adige.
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Price: £40.00
Stock: 2 in Stock
Vecchio Maniero, 1970
Marchesi di Barolo, Barolo, Piedmont *** BIG GALLON BOTTLE OF 3,78 LITERS ***
This wine from the good 1970 vintage is made with the long lived Nebbiolo grape. this is a black-skinned red wine grape variety most famous for creating the 'tar and roses' scent of Barolo wines from Piedmont, north-western Italy. The grape's very name is evocative of its home among the misty foothills of the western Alps; the nebbia (Italian for 'fog') after which it is named frequently arrives on early October mornings, when the Nebbiolo harvest is in full swing.
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Price: £329.00
Stock: 1 in Stock
Messias, 1970
Quinta da Cachao Vintage Port
The 1970 vintage in the Douro Valley is widely regarded as exceptional, producing wines of remarkable quality and longevity. Vintage Ports from esteemed estates like this 1970 vintage Port from Messias' Quinta do Cachão are highly prized. At its drinking peak now, this is the perfect port to be enjoyed on special occasions.
Tasting Notes:
"Beautiful garnet mature colour. The bouquet reveals crème caramel, coffee, tea and much more -Wonderful nose! On the palate it is full bodied, balanced, elegant and complex. It is fully mature and peaking with a marvellous long finish." *Review by Vintage Port. …
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Price: £175.00
Stock: Out of Stock
Chateau Lynch-Bages, 1970
New
Pauillac, 5th Growth Classification
92 Points Wine Spectator
Top shoulder / Bin soiled labels
*** 92 Points Wine Spectator ***
I drank a lot of this in Paris when I lived there in the mid-1980s. And I had a bottle this summer as well. Always outstanding. Shows intense aromas of prune and licorice. Full, velvety and long. This is a beautiful Bordeaux. (JS, Web Only-2007)
**** 91 Points Robert Parker ****
The 1970 is an old style Lynch Bages with plenty of dry tannin in the finish. Compellingly aromatic, it offers aromas of cedar wood, spice box, tobacco, earth, black currants, and new saddle leather. Spicy, concentrated, and burly, with mouth-searing tannin, this big, thick wine is a terrific example of Lynch Bages made in an older style. …
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Price: £195.00
Stock: Out of Stock
Chateau Musar, 1970
Bekaar Valley, Lebanon, Gaston Hochar
Very top shoulder
73 cl bottle
A rare bottle of 1970 Chateau Musar.
Notes from Chateau Musar: Mistakenly, the most Bordeaux wine I ever made. This was unintentional. I was trying to reflect Lebanon in all its guises, all its
aspects. It had more Cabernet Sauvignon than any wine I’ve ever made, but this was when I could play as I wanted - there were no
rules to command me, so I just blended according to my palate – Serge Hochar
Tasting Notes
Dark shaded ruby; this is just the sort of colour I would expect from a 1970 red Bordeaux. Light, very Cabernet nose. If I were given
this blind I would be extremely tempted to head straight for Bordeaux, though it would have to be a comely château such as Palmer
perhaps, and a fairly ripe vintage. …
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Price: £395.00
Stock: Out of Stock
Cockburn Port, 1970
Vintage Port
The 1970 Cockburn is only just coming into full maturity. It is typical of the house: full-bodied, rich, alcoholic and spirited. The wine is meaty, chocolatey, spicy, full-bodied, big and powerful.
Firm, mature appearance. Mature, meaty, earthy hue. Lovely texture. Still has firm acidity. Good mature flavours. Lots of structure still. Good length and pleasantly mature. 16.5/20 (Wine Doctor November 2004)
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Price: £159.00
Stock: Out of Stock
Dow's, 1970
Vintage Port
The 1970 Port Vintage was universally declared as a vintage of outstanding quality. Ideal growing conditions produced what is now a classic, outstanding vintage. The 1970 port wines have great balance, good structure, and will age superbly for decades to come.
Learn more about Dow’s
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Price: £159.00
Stock: Out of Stock
Fonseca Port, 1970
Vintage Port
Remains of Labels | Shipped and Bottled by Army and Navy Stores
The 1970 Fonseca Vintage Port is an outstanding port from a classic vintage. The Fonseca 1970 is now fully mature, and is probably one of the finest glasses of port that you will ever taste. A wine of this quality will age superbly for many decades to come. A magnificent wine with abundant ripe fruit flavours and concentrated tannins. Perfect harmony and balance places this Port amongst the all-time greats.
Robert Parker, renowned critic writes of this Port.... "... it excels in its magnificently complex, intense bouquet of plummy, cedary, spicy fruit and long, broad, expansive flavours. With its lush, seductive character, one might call it the Pomerol of Vintage ports. …
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Price: £185.00
Stock: Out of Stock
Quinta do Noval, 1970
Vintage Port Unlabelled
The 1970 Quinta do Noval Vintage Port is a beautiful Port in a perfect drinking window. It is graceful and complex and a wonderful gift for any 50th birthday or Anniversary. The huge nose of liquorice, smoke, jammy black-cherry and cassis fruit is followed by a wine of seamless components, all super-packed with gorgeously pure fruit, yet the wine is not heavy or overbearing. There is a real sense of elegance to this Quinta do Noval. This port is fully mature drinking perfectly and will continue to evolve for another 20 or more years.
…
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Price: £179.00
Stock: Out of Stock
Quinta do Noval, 1970
Vintage Port
The 1970 Quinta do Noval Vintage Port is a beautiful Port in a perfect drinking window. It is graceful and complex and a wonderful gift for any 50th birthday or Anniversary. The huge nose of liquorice, smoke, jammy black-cherry and cassis fruit is followed by a wine of seamless components, all super-packed with gorgeously pure fruit, yet the wine is not heavy or overbearing. There is a real sense of elegance to this Quinta do Noval. This port is fully mature drinking perfectly and will continue to evolve for another 20 or more years.
…
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Price: £189.00
Stock: Out of Stock
Rioja, 1970
Campo Viejo - Gran Riserva
Wine from Rioja (and Ribera del Duero), aged for at least two years in oak and three years in the bottle, made primarily from the Tempranillo grape. Light and red-brown in colour, with intense vanilla aromas and substantial earthy flavour notes. Significant acidity and medium alcohol.
more >>>
Price: £129.00
Stock: Out of Stock