1976 Wine and Port Vintage
Vintage Summary and Recommendations: Welcome to Vintage Wine and Port's 1976 wine page. Read on for our summary of the 1976 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!
The 1976 vintage was, for much of the wine world, a mixed bag. For France, the vintage was fairly good with Bordeaux, Sauternes, Burgundy and the Rhône Valley all enjoying a reasonably good year, while the year for Champagne, the Loire and Alsace was excellent. Italy endured a less than successful year while Spain, and Port had good but not great years. Any of these wines would make a fabulous 49 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: The first commercial Concorde flight takes off[6] from Heathrow Airport for Bahrain.
Eurovision Winner: UNITED KINGDOM with the song "Save Your Kisses For Me" by Brotherhood of Man
Top Grossing Movie: Rocky
Bordeaux: 1976 wines still offer delightful, attractive drinking if they have been well stored. The wines are characterised as soft-bodied, with low acidity levels.
Rain during the harvest that followed the long hot summer of 1976 tarnished what could have been the vintage of the decade. Much to general surprise, the 1976 vintage although mature on release has maintained its maturity to date.
Italian: A large crop was produced, but the 1976 wines lacked the ripeness and longevity of the preceding vintage. Although the wines will not improve further with age, they are still very drinkable - Barolo or Amarone being the most likely to offer a great experience.
Portugal: Following the driest winter on record there was a total drought throughout the summer, until the end of August. This resulted in a very low production, however those ports that were produced are exceptionally concentrated and full-bodied. They lack a little freshness but this is understandable given the dry conditions. There are very few bottle aged ports available but the Colheita ports (barrel aged) from this year are excellent.
Spain: A good year that produced good quantities of Rioja. Gran Reserva made the annual average of 7%.
Shop with Confidence
All of our premium wine gifts are available for fast, immediate delivery directly from our own cellars. With no minimum order required—buy just one bottle or as many as you like!
- Free UK standard delivery on all orders over £100
- Complimentary tasting notes and personalized gift messages—add yours at checkout
- Three-month replacement guarantee for complete peace of mind
- Choose from our exclusive range of luxury gift boxes
- Award-winning retailer: IWC Fortified Wine Merchant of the Year (2024, 2022, 2021)
- 5-Star Trusted Shops rating for exceptional customer satisfaction
77 products found.
Valtellina, 1976
Perlavilla - Tona
Valtellina is one of Italy’s most dramatic wine regions, located in Lombardy, the vineyards are located on steep mountains. The principal grape variety is Chiavennasca (the local name for Piedmont’s Nebbiolo and an Italian grape varietal that has been cultivated since medieval times here). The DOCG wines are generally comprised of at least 90% Chiavennasca and then blended with other quality local grapes like Brugnola, Rossola, Pignola. Then there is a DOC Valtellina Rosso (also called Rosso di Valtellina DOC) which requires at least 80% of the blend be Chiavennasca and does not have minimum ageing requirements. …
more >>>
Price: £59.00
Stock: 3 in Stock
Chateauneuf du Pape, 1976
Domaine du Grand Tunel - E. Jeune
An outstanding wine still with a deep red colour. This has really strong bouquet with lovely packing in it; there is charm in the soft red fruits, but power and depth in behind, via some tobacco and rum: all comes in a silken air. This is rich on the palate, backed by good structure and tannin to keep it in shape. Very good length.
more >>>
Price: £149.00
Stock: Out of Stock