This was a very good vintage in Bordeaux if overshadowed by 82. Ducru and las cases are not expensive.
1981 was a declared vintage year for Taylors, and I’ve gone through almost a case of that. It’s a solid citizen but needs decanting for the heat to dissipate. Most port shippers didn’t declare that year though.
We were married in 1981 and have regularly celebrated with a California Cabernet. In recent years we’ve enjoyed some of those mentioned, such as Dunn HM, the Diamond Creeks, and the Heitz Martha’s Vineyard. Others that have shown well include Mayacamas, Heitz Bella Oaks, Caymus - both Special Selection and Grace Family, as well as less likely suspects such as Hanzell and Ridge York Creek. Note that we’ve had mixed results with Monte Bello. Some bottles have been fine while others, from the same case, have offered green, stewed tomato, veggie flavors.
I don’t know where you’re located, but I’d look at Benchmark and K&L as possible sources. Both regularly deal in older wines and understand provenance. Neither are the cheapest (usually) but I’ve dealt with both over the years and have been pleased.
'81 Margaux is good.
Another vote for 81 Unico, this was served to me blind at an 81 Bordeaux dinner where it outperformed everything by a huge margin. I used to LOVE 81 PLL but its best days are behind it.
Plenty of good suggestions here, but what does the birthday boy like? You’ve got some good variety among reds, sweeties, or port.
A quick look at K&L and Winebid show lots of choices easily available. Want a few bottles of Pichon Comtesse? It’s there.
'81 birth year here too. Here are a couple favorites of mine:
Gruaud Larose
BV Latour
La Mission
Palmer
Musar
Montrose
I too am '81 and appreciate these suggestions. Question on the LDH recommendations - looking up on CT I see many different versions of the 1981s. I assume the reccos are for the Gran Reserva, but there appears to be multiples of that too. What is the difference b/w the Bosconia and Tondonia? Is one better that the other?
I’ve had a few recently, and I think the 81 PLL is still in a pretty good place.
The best Bordeaux I’ve had from ‘81 is probably Haut Brion among a few dozen others, but I don’t recall trying the other First Growths or Ausone/Petrus.
But it really was a killer vintage in Rioja as others have mentioned. Gran Reservas from Lopez de Heredia (reds and Tondonia Blanco) and CVNE are outstanding. For CVNE, it was maybe the last great Viña Real Gran Reserva. Fabulous wine.
Clos du papes was/is amazing!
Best 1981 Bordeaux wines for me all from the last year in rough descending order (falling from mid 90’s for the HB to maybe 89 for the Branaire): Haut Brion, Conseillante, Magdelaine, Ducru, PLL, Margaux (good but handily beat by the HB in the same week), Branaire. Gruaud and Talbot were both great a few years ago if you like the “funk”.
Mayacamas Cab really good recently as well. LdH Gran Reserva great about a year ago.
So mostly reinforcing previously mentioned wines, but hopefully it helps that these are almost all very recent check-ins.
The LdH Tondonia GR blanco is great as well. If you like the style, $1000 should be enough to get the whole trifecta of Tondonia GR red, white and Bosconia GR. That sounds pretty great to me.
The other way to look at it is to get a bottle the year your brother turned 21.
On Winebid, the 2002 Harlan Estate is looking pretty good, among other things.
No, it’s just a style difference. Bosconia is the one in the Burgundy bottle and Tondonia is the one in the Bordeaux bottle, which is a pretty good shorthand for the difference.
I’d also join the chorus suggesting the Lopez de Heredia Tondonia Gran Reserva Blanco or Tinto. It has been a long time since I last tried either, but knowing their track record I would imagine them still to be drinking well.
Another thought could be the Casa Ferreirinha Barca Velha. Since the inaugural 1952 release there have been fewer than 20 releases of Barca Velha: years not deemed of sufficient quality are released as Casa Ferreirinha Reserva Especial. They released a 1981. I opened a 1991 late last year and it was in stunningly good form. Decanter magazine tasted the '81 a while back but I don’t have Decanter Premium to look at the review though Sarah Ahmed of the Wine Detective website (a Portugese specialist) reviewed the 1981 back in 2016. The Wine Detective | Sarah Ahmed
Best wines with at least 5 reviews on Cellartracker (from at least 5 different users):
Red Wines
- DRC La Tache
- La Rioja Alta Gran Reserve 904
- Bodegas y Vinedos del Contino Rioja Contion Reserva
- Guigal Hermitage
- Vega Sicila Unico
- Penfolds Grange
- Beaucastel CDP
- Riojanas Monte Real Gran Reserva
- Guigal La Mouline
- Heredia Gran Reserva Tondonia
- CVNE Vina Real Gran Reserva
Rioja seems to be the budget friendly way.
This is good proof that group or community ratings are problematic.
La Tache 81 is good but far from exciting and not worth the bucks. But I had it 15 years ago, might not have improved.
Only one CdP is a clear failure.
Some good Bordeaux are missing like PL, Gruaud-L, Las-Cases … and Sauternes !
La Mouline and La Landonne are still in their prime!