When it comes to marking a special anniversary – be it a birthday or wedding anniversary – an anniversary wine gift is an excellent choice for any wine lover. At MWH Wines we’re specialists in anniversary wine gifts and throughout 2021 we’ve been assiduously collecting great wines from around the world from vintages ending in 2. In this latest blog, we’ll give you a few recommendations for gifts that will delight any wine lover celebrating a special occasion in 2022.
We hope that you will find this blog of interest, but if you would like some more help or are looking for a specific special bottle, then please get in touch. You can email MWH Wines here or call us on 0118 984 4654 and we’ll be more than happy to help. So, on with the wines…
1952
Across the wine world, the 1950s were littered with glorious vintages. In Bordeaux 1953, 1955, and 1959 were lovely years. Lovers of Vintage Port will find the likes of Taylor’s 1955 a mature, elegant joy, and for those with deep pockets, red Burgundies from 1952, 1953, and 1955 can all be show-stoppers. Generally speaking, however, 1952 wasn’t a classic year. Bordeaux enjoyed a fine start but the harvest was dogged by rain. Burgundy was excellent and the very best are still drinking well but these wines are now rare and often hugely expensive. The small Port harvest wasn’t generally declared, though there are some lovely 1952 Colheita Ports out there. As is so often the case in weaker years, vintage Armagnacs are a great choice.
1962
1962 has to be one of our favourite Bordeaux vintages. In common with years such as 1971, 1985, 1988, and 2001, it’s been overshadowed by an adjacent year – in this case the mighty 1961 – but the wines are often sublime. Italy had (another) extremely successful year in 1962 with Barolo, Brunello, and Chianti having produced lovely wines. Burgundy was outstanding, but the wines from this modestly proportioned vintage are now hard to find. Port didn’t declare a vintage, in part as the wines were not as popular as they are today and concerns over damaging the market combined with a lacklustre harvest put a stop to a declaration.
1972
This is the vintage that time forgot. And anyone who’s tried wines from 1972 will tell you why. The Bordelaise tried to promote their significantly over-priced efforts as ‘early drinking’, while in Portugal the little that was produced was bottled as late bottled vintage and quickly forgotten. If you are looking for an anniversary wine gift from 1972, we’d suggest either a spirit or one of the excellent vintage Madeira’s. You can email MWH Wines here or call us on 0118 984 4654 and we’ll be more than happy to help find you the bottle you’re seeking.
1982
The renown of 1982 Bordeaux is well known. This was a legendary year that ranks with the likes of 1961,1959, 1947, and, in the case of wines like Lafite, Petrus, Cheval Blanc, Mouton Rothschild, even 1945. The roasting summer created wines that were tannic, massive, concentrated and complex. The best are only now coming into their own and will drink for many years to come. Other regions that enjoyed success were Champagne – Krug 1982 is phenomenal, the 1982 Quinta do Noval is a wonderful Vintage Port, and Piemonte produced a swathe of great wines. Other areas were less successful. In Sauternes the weather was too good, and in Burgundy the wines were mixed and over-priced, having traded on Bordeaux’s good fortune.
1992
1992 was for most European regions a wet, cool, and generally unimpressive vintage. What was produced was generally for drinking young while the fruit (such as it was) was still present. The only successful region was Port. While some houses didn’t declare owing to them having declared the often extraordinary 1991, those that did triumphed. Taylor’s 1992 gained 100 points from Parker, and is a wine that will delight for decades to come.
Like Some Anniversary Wine Gift Help?
We hope you found this anniversary wine gift blog of use, but if you are looking for a specific wine then please get in touch by calling Mike on 0118 984 4654 or by emailing MWH Wines. We’ll be adding more anniversary wines over the coming weeks so make sure you check back regular or sign up to MWH Wines’ fine wine email newsletter.
