Wine vintage rating 1981

What was the vintage 1981 like?

1981 was a vintage in Bordeaux with average good wines.

The most important phase besides flowering is the ripening period of the grapes. A welcome rain came in September and nice weather again for the harvest. The quality of the Italian wines was very inconsistent. The weather was best in Tuscany. The 1981 Sassicaia is valued accordingly high.

Weather in the year 1981

At the beginning of the year, south-west France got another thick layer of snow. In March, an above-average warm spring suddenly set in. End of April brought dangerous frosts.

The summer was cool and humid, with average temperatures in the second half until October.

The first snow fell in October.

The current stock of wines from the 1981 vintage

All wines from the 1981 vintage are in our own wine cellar and can be shipped immediately or picked up at the wine shop. To the wines of 1981

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 1981 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.

No products found.