Birth
Year Wines
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Birth
Year Wines are wonderful gifts. You can give Birth Year Wines
as a gift for a young child so the wine can be consumed at a date
far into the future (such as the 21st birthday). You can also
purchase aged
wines as a gift for an individual who is having a significant
birthday soon. When looking for very old wines, your best bet
may be to check with one of the auction houses. Be careful about
the provenance of the wine.
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Because
most of the wines that age the longest are usually not released
until two years after the vintage date, a Birth Year Wine is not
going to be available at the time of birth. The earliest you can
safely expect to find birth year wines is about 2 1/2 years after
the birth/vintage year.
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Which
wines age best and are most likely to last until the special celebration
of a 21st, 30th or 50th birthday? The most likely candidates are
dessert wines of some form including Vintage Ports (Portugal),
Sauternes (France)
and Trockenbeerenauslese wines (Germany).
In the dry wine category, big red wines like the best Chateaux
of Bordeaux
or possibly some of the California Cabernet
Sauvignons could work. Almost all white wines, most
sparkling wines and most of the world's red wines are not suitable
and will go bad long before the special celebration.
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Even after
you get the perfect wine, the storage
conditions will determine whether the wine will survive
the decades of storage. If you cannot provide proper storage conditions,
do not bother finding the wine.
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Since
Vintages
can vary greatly, the ability of wines from different years can
also vary. A great Bordeaux from a great vintage may improve for
decades while the same chateau in a lesser year may produce wines
that have less than 1/2 the lifespan.
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The table
below will give you the best candidates from each year.
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20052004
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2012 |
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2011 |
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2010 |
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2009 |
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2008 |
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2007 |
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2006 |
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2005 |
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2004 |
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2003
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2002
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2001 |
Excellent
year for Sauternes and Barsac. Very good year for the top California
Cabernets. Excellent year for German Sweet Wines.
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2000
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Excellent
year for Vintage Port and for Bordeaux.
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1999
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Look to
Sauternes and Barsac.
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1998
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Saint
Emilion and Pomerol produced excellent wines.
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1997
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Excellent
year for Vintage Port and the top California Cabernets
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1996
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Very good
year for the top California Cabernets
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1995
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Very good
year for the top California Cabernets
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1994
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Excellent
year for Vintage Port
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1993
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Very good
year for the top California Cabernets
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1992
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Excellent
year for Vintage Port
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1991
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Excellent
year for Vintage Port. Very good year for the top California Cabernets
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1990
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Excellent
year for Sauternes and Barsac. Excellent year for German Sweet
Wines.
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1989
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Very good
year for top Bordeaux. Excellent year for German Sweet Wines as
well as Sauternes and Barsac.
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1988
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Excellent
year for Sauternes and Barsac.
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1987
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Look at
the best California Cabernets.
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1986
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Excellent
year for Sauternes, Barsac and Bordeaux
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1985
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Excellent
year for Vintage Port. Very good year for the top California Cabernets
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1984
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1983
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Excellent
year for Vintage Port. Excellent year for German Sweet Wines as
well as Sauternes and Barsac.
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1982
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Great
year for the top Bordeaux
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1981
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Look to
the top Rioja wines of Spain.
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1980
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1979
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Look for
a SWEET Vouvray from an excellent producer. Be careful because
Vouvray comes in many styles.
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1978
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Very good
year for Rhone wines from France. Hermitage or Chateauneuf du
Pape from the best producers are showing well.
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1977
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Excellent
year for Vintage Port
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1976
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Very good
year for the top California Cabernets. Excellent year for German
Sweet Wines.
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1975
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Excellent
year for Sauternes and Barsac. Excellent year for German Sweet
Wines.
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1974
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Wines
from the Piedmont region of Italy may be the best place to look.
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1973
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Seek out
wines from Germany.
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1972
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Red wines
from the Rhone River valley in France are your best bet.
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1971
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Look at
the top German wines.
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1970
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Excellent
year for Vintage Port. Very good year for the top California Cabernets
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1969
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1968
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1967
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1966
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Excellent
year for Vintage Port
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1965
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Very difficult
year. Look at the best of Spain or Australia.
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1964
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1963
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Excellent
year for Vintage Port
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1962
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Great
year for the top Bordeaux
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1961
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Great
year for the top Bordeaux
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1960
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1959
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Great
year for the top Bordeaux
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1958
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1957
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Look
at some of the top Bordeaux wines or Tokaj Aszu, the classic dessert
wine from Hungary.
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1956
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1955
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Excellent
year for Vintage Port
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1954
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1953
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Great
year for the top Bordeaux
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1952
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1951
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1950
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