Vintages.
As my readers may not all be connoisseurs in the matter of wines, a few words on the subject of vintages may be appropriate, at the close of this chapter.
With regard to champagnes, the good years are ’65, ’68, ’74 (especially good), ’78, ’80, ’84, ’85, ’87 (somewhat light in body), ’89, ’92, and ’93. All the other vintages since ’65 have turned out more or less badly; and there have been no good vintages since ’93.
One of the largest and best vintages of claret on record is that of ’75, which ranks with the older ones of ’48, ’58, and ’64. ’77 is fair, and between that year and ’88 there was no vintage of particular merit. ’93 wine is good, and this year furnished the largest yield since ’75. ’94 wine is exceptionally bad. During the five years {148} from ’82 to ’86 the merits of the wines were completely destroyed by mildew.
The burgundy vintages have been good since ’84. As for ports, the drinkable wines (since ’34) are those of ’41, ’47 (one of the finest wines ever known), ’51 (exceptionally good), ’52, ’53 (fine and fruity), ’54, ’58, ’63, ’68, ’70, ’72, ’75, ’78 (exceptionally fine), ’81, ’84, ’87 (the best since ’78), and ’96 which “shews promise.” The worst years are ’55, ’56, ’57, ’59, ’64, ’66, ’69, ’71, ’74, ’76, ’77, ’79, ’80, ’82, ’83, ’86, ’88, ’91, ’93 (exceptionally bad), ’94, and ’95.
The above statistics are also from Messrs. Hatch, Mansfield and Co.’s list.