Wine vintage rating 1968

What was the vintage 1968 like?

1968 a vintage for Italian wines. In the north of Piedmont there is a small town that produces dry red wines that are particularly long-lived: Gattinara. Like Barolo, the wines are made from the Nebbiolo grape variety in a traditional way. When young, the wines are bulky and dominated by the characteristic tannins of the Nebbiolo grape. The wines mature very slowly. In Gattinara, a strangely bulbous bottle shape is used very often, specially made for very old wines: the depot should remain in the bottle curvature when poured out!
The Marchesi di Barolo also used a similarly elaborate bottle until 1968: the relief-like glass seal on the wine bottle was used for the last time by the Antichi Poderi in 1968 for the flagship wine of the house.

In Bordeaux in 1968 the sun shone extremely rarely. All findable, well-preserved bottles are real loners.

Weather in the year 1968

An exceptionally warm spring in March and April with almost summer temperatures. Almost logically, heavy hailstorms followed.

In south-west France - Bordeaux, a severe but short-lived heat wave set in at the end of June and beginning of July. Followed by excessive rain across France through September.

Italy was largely spared from the unfavorable weather.

The current stock of wines from the 1968 vintage

All wines from the 1968 vintage are in our own wine cellar and can be shipped immediately or picked up at the wine shop. To the wines of 1968

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 1968 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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