1970 : Vintage guide | Best wines of 1970

Visit vintage 1970 is a year close to your heart? Is it a year of birth, a year of marriage or any other symbol that makes you want to offer or drink a wine from this year? Let us help you decipher the 1970 vintage and find the bottle that best suits your needs.

> Buy vintage 1970 wines

 

 

• Vintage 1970 in BORDEAUX

The 1970 vintage has left its mark on the minds of wine lovers. It is considered one of the great post-war vintages, on a par with 1961 and 1982. 

Everything was in place to produce a great wine. Climatic conditions were perfect, with sunny months in May and June, enabling uniform flowering throughout the vineyard. Summer was equally prolific for the vineyard. The months of July and August were characterized by long-lasting sunshine, accompanied by a few showers which were beneficial to the development of the vines. 

September and October were not to be outdone, and their warm months also contributed to the production of a great wine. Rainfall in the 1970 vintage was below average, but not non-existent. Perfect conditions for the grapes. There was no damage from frost or showers on any of the plots. So, in addition to superb quality, quantity is guaranteed. 

In this 1970 vintage, one wine stands out from the rest, namely Petrus. The famous Pomerol inherited a 99/100 parker rating, a near-perfect score. On the Left Bank, it's Pauillac which takes pride of place with powerful, tannic and harmonious wines. In this appellation, we offer Château Latourrated 91/100. 

For lovers of finesse, the Delon family offers an opulent yet delicate Château Léoville Las Casestypical of the appellation Saint-Julienwith the aromatic richness of a Pauillac and the finesse of a Margaux. 

However, if you would like to enjoy a 1970 Bordeaux at a lower price, we still have a few bottles of the Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classé Larcis Ducasse. It will give you an idea of the vintage, but beware: after more than 50 years in bottle, the wine will be well evolved and quite delicate. 

When it comes to sweet wines, they're not to be outdone. Pleasant to taste, with good concentration, they age very well and can still be enjoyed today. Like Château Rieussec 1970, very amber, golden. Its gourmet texture is accompanied by honeyed notes of candied fig.

 

• Vintage 1970 in BOURGOGNE

The 1970 vintage was a year of abundance. It has to be said that all the climatic conditions were right. To begin with, the two months of May and June were very hot, resulting in excellent flowering. July saw the heat gradually settle in. August was a little cooler, allowing the vines not to suffer too much from the heat. Then September and October hit hard. Hot weather and almost permanent sunshine set in. All in all, with no losses during the difficult periods, the 1970 vintage was a very prolific one, indeed one of the most important since 1950. Although the 1970 vintage was of good quality, proving that it is possible to produce good wines even with quantity. These wines are no longer drinkable. Tasting them, you quickly notice a lack of balance and concentration. The same can be said of the white wines of the 1970 vintage. Even if some of them managed to produce magnificent wines, most of them, especially in Chablis, lack the acidity that is so important for density and length on the palate, as is the case with red wines.

We still have in our possession a red Burgundy wine from 1970. This is a Corton Grancey Grand Cru by Louis Latour. In order to enjoy the wine in the best possible conditions, we recommend that you stand the bottle upright for 24 hours before tasting, to allow the deposits to sink to the bottom of the bottle. It is not necessary to open the wine first. The evolved aromas of old wines are volatile and will quickly disappear if you open the bottle too soon. Get some nice Burgundy glasses and enjoy your wine as soon as it's opened.

 

• Vintage 1970 in VALLEE DU RHÔNE

As with Bordeaux, 1970 was a great vintage in the Rhône Valley. It might even have been an exceptional vintage had drought not struck the vineyards. The 1970 vintage was one of the snowiest years of the last century, but a heat wave hit France. April and May were warm and dry, allowing the vines to recover and begin flowering. June saw some rainfall, which was perfect for the soils to soak up water and return it to the grapes. The months that followed were almost too perfect! Lots of sunshine and heat, but very little rain. In this part of France, it can get too hot very quickly, and drought can be devastating. So, even though there were no losses to deplore in the Rhône Valley, the 1970 vintage lacked freshness and balance in some appellations, relegating it to a very good vintage when it could have been exceptional.

Some appellations stand out from the rest, such as Hermitage, which is by far the best wine in the northern part of the region. Once again, the wines of Cornas are doing quite well, overshadowing the prestigious appellation Côte-Rôtie. In the south, it's no surprise that wines from Châteauneuf du Pape that dominate the region. They're a bit like Bordeaux. The wines have appreciated fairly quickly, but have excellent ageing potential. We still have 2 Châteauneuf du Pape wines in our cellars to discover from this fine 1970 vintage. The first is the Château Fortiaa Châteauneuf-du-pape legend. The second Château Saint Préferta confidential Châteauneuf du Pape family estate since 1920.

 

• Vintage 1970 in the rest of France

In ChampagneThis vintage is exceptional in every way. Firstly, in terms of quality, which was very good, but above all because the vintage produced astronomical quantities of grapes. The Champagne houses ran out of space in their cellars and had to store their wines on barges on the Marne.

In the LoireThis will be a standard year. With a little less rain, but also less sun than usual, the juices will be fruity and fleshy.

In AlsaceIt was a good year for winegrowers. Grapes were plentiful and of good quality.

 

> Great Wines of 1970 in stock