1968 Wine

1968 Wine

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The 1968 vintage will be remembered as one of the most gruelling years of the twentieth century for the French wine regions. A cold summer, one of the wettest Augusts ever measured and the rainiest year since 1951 produced under-ripe grapes and a delicate harvest, opened on 20 September over an abundant but poorly concentrated crop. In Bordeaux, the left bank held on better, buoyed by the rigour of its first growths: Château Latour 1968 owes its staying power to a structure that preserves the wine despite the slightness of the year, while Château Mouton Rothschild 1968 remains one of the rare bottles of the vintage still sought after, as does Petrus 1968 for its rarity. To place 1968 alongside other years, consult the Vintage Guide.

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Bordeaux Grand Cru Classés

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Vintage Guide - SoDivin

Vintage Guide

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The F.A.Q

Le millésime 1968 est-il considéré comme un grand millésime ?

Le millésime 1968 n’est pas classé parmi les plus grands millésimes historiques, mais il a donné naissance à de très beaux vins dans certaines appellations réputées.

Peut-on encore boire un vin de 1968 aujourd’hui ?

Oui, de nombreux vins de 1968 sont aujourd’hui à maturité optimale, à condition d’avoir été conservés dans de bonnes conditions.

Quels styles de vins dominent le millésime 1968 ?

Le millésime 1968 est marqué par des vins classiques, structurés, souvent élégants plutôt que puissants, avec une expression fidèle du terroir.

Vintage 1968: a difficult year, exceptions worth knowing

The 1968 vintage belongs to the small group of truly difficult years of the French twentieth century. A wet spring, a summer that never really established warmth and above all a glacial and rainy August — among the wettest ever recorded — delayed ripeness and swelled an abundant but concentration-lacking harvest. Picking, which began on 20 September, took place on just-ripe grapes, and few regions managed to escape dilution. This is a vintage one approaches without illusions about power, but which reserves, here and there, a few bottles of character born of the rigour of the greatest estates — and one category, that of eaux-de-vie, where 1968 proves far more convincing than one might imagine.

Bordeaux 1968: the left bank and the rally of the first growths

In Bordeaux, the year was harsh and the selection merciless; some estates even declined to release their grand vin, as did Château Palmer, which declassified its entire 1968 production rather than put its name to it. In this context, the left bank of the Médoc fared better than the right bank, and only terroirs capable of severe selection managed to salvage something from an ungrateful raw material. Château Latour is the most accomplished exception of the year in Pauillac: its tannic structure saved the wine where others faded, and the finest bottles still offer an evolved colour and a complex nose of cedar, tobacco and spice. Château Mouton Rothschild retains genuine patrimonial value among collectors, while on the right bank Petrus illustrates the capacity of a great Pomerol terroir to remain upright when the vintage falters.

Burgundy 1968: rare successes signed by the greatest estates

Burgundy was not spared the coolness and rains of 1968, and volumes of quality were slim. This is a vintage where the estate's signature counts for everything: only houses capable of rigorous sorting and patient ageing drew an ounce of finesse from healthy Pinot Noir, when the average of the year remained pale and fleeting. The great climats of the Côte de Nuits concentrate what little interest remains, starting with the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, whose oldest bottles retain, on perfect examples, the delicacy characteristic of the very greatest terroirs. The Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé ranks among the rare names to seek out for a red Burgundy from this year, provided the storage is scrupulously verified.

Rhône Valley 1968: a more forgiving south than the north

In the Rhône Valley, 1968 struck the south less harshly than the northern Syrah, which struggled to reach full ripeness. The southern reds, more generous by nature, offered tender and accessible wines from their youth, of which only a few carefully kept bottles from the great houses remain today. In the north, only the most serious cellars saved the day: the house of Paul Jaboulet Aîné remains a reference for anyone seeking a still-living bottle of Syrah from this vintage, while Guigal remains the name to favour in Côte-Rôtie. These are purchases of curiosity, to be chosen bottle by bottle and not to be kept waiting.

Armagnac 1968: when the eau-de-vie surpasses the wine

This is where 1968 takes its revenge. In Bas-Armagnac, the quality of a vintage does not depend on grape concentration as it does for wine: distillation, followed by long decades of ageing in wood, transforms even a modest harvest into an eau-de-vie of great depth. The 1968 vintages from the region rank among the most reliable of the decade, carried by estates that bottle only the best of each year. The Bas-Armagnac Boingnères 1968, made from a high proportion of Folle Blanche, embodies this rare and refined elegance, while the Bas-Armagnac Sempé 1968, drawn from its Grande Réserve, offers a fuller and warmer character. This is the true way to celebrate 1968 in a bottle: a birth year, an anniversary or a great occasion finds here a bottle that has lost none of its splendour.

Find a fine bottle of 1968 at SoDivin

To approach the 1968 wine is to accept a difficult year and retain only its exceptions: a first growth from Pauillac at a perfect fill level, a great preserved Pomerol, a rare Burgundian bottle of noble lineage or, more reliably still, a vintage bas-armagnac that stands the test of time without faltering. Every bottle in our selection is assessed, verified for its authenticity and provenance, then stored in controlled conditions before dispatch. To compare vintages and refine your choice, consult the SoDivin Vintage Guide.

Same-day dispatch for any order placed before 2pm, express delivery and secure packaging. Each bottle is photographed in high definition for a purchase made with complete confidence.

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