Wine vintage rating 1944

What was the vintage 1944 like?

1944 is usually considered a very difficult vintage – not everywhere. The weather was actually warm and balanced, good for charming wines.
Château Haut Brion coped well with the vintage. The 1944 was quite popular for the next 10 years, being supple and soft but not durable enough at the level.
Château Cheval Blanc was occupied by the Wehrmacht during the looming post-D-Day defeat. 9 employees of the winery died in the fighting. For the grape harvest from 26.09. This part of France was already liberated by October 20, 1944.

From time to time we find very good Italian wines in a cellar stock. If then actually always from Piedmont (i.e. Barolo and Barbaresco). In general, I can say: 1944 wines are so rare today that each well-preserved bottle stands on its own and tells its own story. This is often more important than the vintage rating.

Weather in the year 1944

January 1944 was very mild. It was cold then in February. Spring remained exceptionally dry and in May temperatures rose to over 30°C in many places.

The summer stayed warm. In mid-August, it was extremely hot with values just under 40°C.

It was only after the grape harvest that the rain started to fall. At the end of the year it got extremely cold.

The current stock of wines from the 1944 vintage

All wines from the 1944 vintage are in our own wine cellar and can be shipped immediately or picked up at the wine shop. To the wines of 1944

Good filling levels, good wine quality

The fill level of an old vintage wine reveals important information on the drinkability of the wine.
Of course, the good condition of a wine from an old vintage depends on excellent storage. Above all, the wine must not have frequently changed cellars. Ideally, the wine will have rested in one and the same wine cellar.

But also the cork that sits in each individual bottle is very important. A perfect cork has few pores and keeps the wine stable. If an inferior cork happens to have been used in a bottle, the porous surface will begin to soak up wine and allow micro-quantities of the liquid to evaporate over the decades. Poor fill levels are the result.

A poor fill level therefore also indicates a high risk that the wine bottle could soon begin to leak.

The fill levels explained:
In the bottle neck (high fill to base neck) about 2 cm is perfect for wines.
Top and upper shoulder, ([very] top shoulder), approx. 3 cm is very good for very old wines.
Medium shoulder (mid shoulder), about 4 cm is only acceptable for rare top wines and in individual cases.
Everything below the red line should not be offered any more.

Wine rating

Do you have a 1944 vintage in your wine cellar and would you like to know how much it is worth?

Here are a few tips: in order to still have any value, the bottle must be leakproof. The wine must not be cloudy. It should be of good quality (not supermarket wine).

Search for the wine online without specifying the vintage. If it is a well-known winery, you will find the wine immediately and also the price you have to pay for the current vintage. If the current wine costs from EUR 20.00 upwards, that's a good sign.

The filling level is decisive for the value. Upper shoulder to base neck is required. Medium shoulder is only acceptable for extremely rare, already valuable wines.

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