The guide to the best wines of the 1961 vintage
Want to find a wine from 1961 to celebrate a birthday or mark an important date? La Bouteille Dorée offers you a short practical guide to find your way around the 1961 vintage, a 60-year-old vintage.
Bordeaux 1961
1961 is an extraordinary vintage, perhaps the best of the 20th century along with 1929 and 1945 and undoubtedly one of the best vintages of all time. The weather conditions were quite harsh until the beginning of the summer, which explains why the volumes are quite small. The superb months of August and September, hot and dry, allowed the grapes to ripen perfectly. After 60 years of ageing, the great red wines of Bordeaux still offer a wide and intense aromatic palette and a surprising concentration at this age. The vintage was naturally slightly inferior in quality for the sweet wines of Barsac and Sauternes.
Burgundy 1961
In Burgundy, the conditions were quite similar but the harsher cold of spring and a wet month of June slowed down flowering. The month of July offered only moderate temperatures and although the heat returned in August and the month of September was sunny, the ripeness of the grapes was not optimal. The red wines are best served in the Côte de Beaune.
Rhône 1961
The Rhône Valley produced exceptional red wines in 1961, particularly in the Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage appellations (La Chapelle 1961 became a mythical wine) and in the south at Châteauneuf-du-Pape where the wines remain powerful and rich.
Other successes of 1961
Among the great successes of 1961 is the superb vintage in Piedmont with powerful, concentrated and intense Barolo and Brunello wines.
The natural sweet wines of Roussillon, Maury and Rivesaltes also offer, thanks to their very long ageing potential, beautiful sensations.
Find all the bottles of 1961 currently on stock
Find all the bottles of 1961 currently on sale at La Bouteille Dorée. These wines from 1961 are in stock in our cellars and can be delivered in 24 hours throughout France and even within the day in Paris and 48 to 72 hours in most european countries. If you are looking for a particular bottle in the 1961 vintage, do not hesitate to contact us at info@labouteilledoree.com or at 01.46.22.29.79.