The claret vintage series: part nine 1981

Overall vintage rating: ** 1/2

It was destined to be a great vintage, but heavy rains between late September and mid-October put paid to that. Instead it ended up being a difficult vintage, with low natural alcohol levels, so producers had to chaptalise. Still 1981 produced some creditable wines, which are still drinking well today.

In the Medoc, the best wines are Lafite, Margaux and Pichon Lalande. All of these are still drinking beautifully today. A notch down you have wines such as Latour, Leoville-Lascases, Ducru-Beaucaillou, Gruaud-Larose and Talbot, and these are likewise drinking very well.

In Pessac-Leognan the star of the show is La Mission Haut-Brion, which in my book also narrowly beats Lafite for the wine of the vintage accolade. Magnificent, delicious and accessible at an early age. I was not that impressed with Haut-Brion, when I tried but it was a long time ago. However, beautiful wines were made at la Tour Haut Brion and Domaine De Chevalier.

On the right bank the star is La Conseillante, a delightful wine, which has been drinking very well for two decades, but continues to defy those who predicted it would not make old bones. I was not impressed by Cheval Blanc when I tried it, but again that was some years back. Otherwise it was lean pickings on the right bank. I have tried Chateau Petrus a couple of times and it was distinctly underwhelming.

Top ten clarets in 1981

10. Latour

9. Gruaud-Larose

8. Ducru Beaucaillou

7. Domaine De Chevalier

6. La Tour Haut-Brion

5. Pichon Lalande

4. Margaux

3. La Conseillante

2. Lafite

1. La Mission Haut-Brion

Disappointments in 1981

Petrus