Extra -- more on the age of wines for Barb and whomever feels curious about it
Though my friend, the wine specialist, didn't go into details of crops year by year, he did mention some information that I found interesting. Acordding to him, the year of 1947 is considered mythical (not that I would rather have been born then). The winter was harsh and the vines suffered. Only a few grapes survived the tough conditions, but the ones who did, lived through a sunny summer and ripened as best as they could. As the conditions were rough, the production was very small. (Remember, the war was just over and it had destroyed many plantations). So these are today's rarest, most expensive wines, each bottle can cost thousands of dollars. And they are perfect to be drunk right now. He also mentioned that Bordeaux reds of 1950 are among the most exquisite and unpredictable. There was an Indian summer that year, and the crop started absurdly late, in early November. The thing about the wines of this particular year is that each bottle can be radically different from the other one. One is sublime, the other is rough. It is an exercise of patience and faith to acquire a bottle from that year. But he thinks it is worth it.
One interesting thing is that some harvest don't age well, he said. Take 1954, he says, it already shows signs of being past its prime, while 1947 is at its peak. Of recent years, he said that 1985 was a complete disaster. In compensation, 1995 is truly outstanding. And we should all be looking forward to try the 2000 crop in a few years. It seems that there was weather conditions compared to 1961, simply perfect. So expectations are high, prices are skyrocketing, but we will only know if the result was really good in one or two decades.
If you feel any interest in my previous conversations with the wine specialist, there is his take on Sideways and Mondovino.
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