Vintage
Vintage chart
Every year from 1970 onwards, and the exceptional years before them: what the season was like, how the harvest went, and what is worth opening now.
2020s
Early, healthy and solar, with Pinot Noir in front
The wettest season on record, saved by Chardonnay
A huge crop where sorting decided everything
The sunniest summer on record, and a full crop
Frost, mildew, hail: a year for the selective
Drought, a record early harvest and the year of Pinot Noir
2010s
The cool, tense one between two warm years
Hot, abundant and clean: a soft, generous vintage
Frost, a wet August and a short, anxious harvest
Record rain, frost and mildew, then a dry summer
Drought, heat and the green-note debate
A cool, wet summer saved by a fine September
A late, cool and classical October harvest
Frost, hail and a tiny crop of great Pinot Noir
Very early, diluted and green
Two months of rain in two days, and the rot that followed
2000s
Warm, healthy and generous, with Pinot Noir in front
Cool, slow and classic: the vintage to cellar
A hot April, a cloudy summer and an early harvest
A hot summer, a wet August and a supple vintage
Heavy, low in acid and much debated
A record crop of cool, slender, elegant wines
Frost, then the great heatwave
The vintage of a generation
The wettest harvest since 1873
The millennium vintage, soft and opulent
1990s
A huge, soft crop with fine Pinot Noir
A record-sized crop that aged better than expected
Frost and a wet flowering, saved by a sunny September
Record acidity and record sugar: the great divider
The quiet great year that grew into its finesse
The year of rot
High hopes, then September rain
A market crisis and a Pinot Noir year
Frost that decimated the crop
Rich, powerful and declared by everyone
1980s
Warm, rich and early-maturing
Classic, structured and slow: the finest of the trio
A wet, meagre year barely fit for blending
A warm summer spoiled by rot
The great frost, then an Indian summer
Cold and wet: almost no vintage wine
A big, reliable crop in the shadow of 1982
A record crop of exceptional quality
Tiny, frost-hit and very fine
A disastrous flowering and a small, late crop
1970s
A huge, healthy crop and the first Clos du Mesnil
A third of a crop, lean and high in acid
Cold, wet and rotten
The great drought year
Classic, stylish and refined
Frost, rain and rot, with one great exception
A drought summer and a huge crop
Cool, late and forgettable
Small, elegant and delicate
A record crop stored on barges
The historic years
Before 1970 only the years that were declared at all are charted, the ones still worth talking about.
1960s
Small but first-rate
Elegant, after frost and hail
Hot, ripe and full-bodied
A small crop saved by September
Round, rich and royal
1950s
Exceptional by any standard
Truly exceptional, and generous
Ripe, concentrated and balanced
Cool, long and balanced
1940s
Near-perfect balance
Hot, dry and powerful
The victory vintage
The finest of the war years
1930s
Admired by the importers
A bumper crop of fine wines