1981 Wine and Port Vintage

Vintage Summary and Recommendations:

Welcome to Vintage Wine and Port's 1981 wine page. Read on for our summary of the 1981 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 1981 vintage ranged in quality, with many regions producing excellent wines, but few stood out as truly exceptional. In France, Bordeaux, Beaujolais, Loire, Alsace and the Rhône Valley all enjoyed good years but the vintage for Sauternes and Champagne was lackluster and poor for Burgundy. The rest of Europe was also a mixed bag, with Piedmont suffering a particularly bad year while Tuscany excelled. Spain, Germany and Austria all enjoyed good but not great years and both Port and Tokaj produced some nice wines. Any of these wines would make a fabulous 44 year old wine gift for an Anniversary or birthday.


Our Wine Expert currently recommends the following wines for this year:

Montepulciano 1981 dAbruzzo Valle dOro Tollo

Ryst Dupeyron Armagnac 1981 Reserve Joseph Millesime vintage Armagnac

Doliveiras Madeira 1981 Sercial Madeira

Chateau Branaire Ducru 1981 St Julien 4th Growth Classification

 
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Bordeaux: 1981 was a very good vintage for Bordeaux wines that was overlooked in favour of the outstanding 1982 Vinatge. Although July was cool, the fruit ripened well through a warm and dry August and September. The harvest began under good conditions in the very last days of September but was hampered by rain in the first two weeks of October, leading to a dilution of the grape juice. Nevertheless, reliable chateaux still managed to fashion some stylish, classic wines, with medium body and good structure.
 
Italian: The good 1981 Italian vintage produced a large crop of consistent wines. The best examples from Tuscany and Piedmont are now at their peak of their maturity, and will offer a good drinking experience.
 
Portugal: No vintage port was made in 1981. Our recommendation would be for a 1981 Colheita port from 1981. Kopke are renowned for their colheita and this would make a wonderful gift for a Birthday or Anniversary this year.
 

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