1971 wine - what to look for?

My wife & I will both turn 50 next year. I thought it would be neat to have a bottle or 2 of a 1971 vintage to open. I have a year to figure this out!

What should I look for? We currently prefer Napa cabs - but merlot, Bordeaux blends, and similar would all be fine.

I assume I will have to get these via auction - I don’t know where I would find 50 year old bottles at any standard retail site. I see winebid currently has some French 1971 wines - ranging from $30 to $500. I don’t want to spend $500, but in the $100-$200 range would be OK. I know very little about French wines. I know this is also too old for many wines. I’m not expecting the best wine in the world, but don’t want something that is bad, just to be able to say I’m drinking something my age :slight_smile:

Any specific recommendations of what to look for, or locales/varieties to avoid from '71?

I’d look to German Riesling…there are so many that are still great and a relative value given the age of the wines…

1971 can be a very good red Burgundy vintage, though any of the best will likely be quite expensive. It’s an underrated Bordeaux vintage, with wines such as the 1971 Figeac being notable successes. It is a great vintage in Piedmont, and I think a case could be made that 1971 was the greatest vintage of Bruno Giacosa’s career—though perhaps that’s because the wines are actually mature as much as anything. On the white side of the ledger, you will be best served looking at sweet German and Loire whites, or Alsace off-dry whites (if you see anything from Trimbach don’t hesitate).

Lots of 1971 auslesen lately at auction.

Barolo, Barbaresco and Red Burgundy.

1971 Penfolds Grange can be very good

Champagne, Red Burgs and Trotanoy.

All good suggestions but the residual sugar in the german wine helps protect against less than perfect storage.

Right Bank Bordeaux. Underrated Left Bank Bordeaux.

The last bottle of ‘71 Figeac I bought was $80 plus vig. Now usually a little higher but under $200 and worth every penny.

I had a half bottle of 1971 d’Yquem a few weeks ago, and it was incredible.

Don’t know the current market price, but I paid $220 for it several years ago.

Glad I still have one half bottle. It’s my wife’s birth year, so likely opening that one when both turn 50.

Tom

Great vintage for Barolo and Barbaresco, and they won’t break the bank like some other regions. That would be my go-to.

Loved the 1971 Produttori de Barbaresco Rabaja, F. Rinaldi and G. Rinaldi. If I could choose one, it would have to be the Rabaja, an incredible perfume on the nose, smooth from end to end.

If you enjoy the hunt, then you will enjoy searching for these wines. There just aren’t a lot of '71s out there, especially in your price range. Worth looking at Chambers Street in NY or Rare Wine Co in CA - these both have pretty deep stores of older wines. And the broad classes of wines that were good in 1971 that folks have listed here gives you a starting point. Good luck!

The best wines according to a vintage search on CT:
DRC Romanee-Conti
Comte de Vogue Musigny
DRC Lat Tache
Dom Perignon Oenotheque
Penfolds Grange
Conterno Monfortino
Petrus
DRC Richebourg
Dom Perignon P3
Climens
Trotanoy
Yquem
DRC Grands-Echezeaux
Cantina Mascarello Barolo
Dom Perignon
Conterno Barolo
Conterno Barolo Riserva
Chappellet Cabernet
Latour
Rayne Vingeau

All with good CT ratings. Hope this helps.

To the OP, this is a sweeter German wine. Can be truly magnificent.

1971 is a fine vintage in red Burgundy, German Riesling … and also Piemont.
In Bordeaux it’s a mixed bag - right bank can be excellent, left bank rather werk except Latour and few others …Rhone Valley is not great but not bad either, fine bottles to be found …
As always bottle condition is critical …

PS: better buy soon, next year more expensive for sure …

I do not recall ever having tasted a 1971 California wine. I can say that some of the better wineries from those days in California included BV Private Reserve, Inglenook Cask, Ridge Montebello, Sterling and Heitz Martha’s Vineyard. I have had wines from most of these from this era that were quite good (my first Ridge and Heitz wines were from a few years later), but as I said none from 1971. The great vintages in California from that era were 1970 and 1974.

I have always loved 1971 German wines and had a number of wonderful 1971 Burgundies back in the day, but the ONE single wine from the vintages that was head and shoulders above everything else was Chateau d’Yquem.

I’ve had some very good '71 Cali cabs- Sterling, Charles Krug VS, and Mondavi Reserve. Not easy to find, but they should be on low end of your price scale- $50ish for the Sterling, $100-125 for others. Might be worth putting a WS alert on if you have pro.
I haven’t had the 71 Chappelet that someone put on best of CT list,but it and the Rayne Vigneau are only ones on that list that would be within your price parameters.

All of the above, plus 1971 Huet Vouvray’s.