1944

What we would buy, and why

Treat 1944 as a year to mark rather than a year to drink; the wines were slight to begin with and eight decades have not been kind. A 1944 Bas-Armagnac at 300-550 euro, or a Madeira from the same decade, will pour beautifully and cost less than a wartime claret of no great merit. If somebody insists on Bordeaux, buy the smaller classed growth with impeccable provenance rather than the famous name with none, and understand that we sell it as a collectible item without a promise that it will still be drinking.

1944 in the world

Paris was liberated on 25 August and the bells of Notre-Dame rang for the first time in four years. Six weeks later the same exhausted country went out and picked its grapes, as it had every autumn regardless.

Best bets for 1944

• Bas-Armagnac 1944 from Laberdolive, Darroze or Castarède — 300-550 euro
• A 1940s Madeira, Bual or Malmsey — 500-950 euro, and it will keep for months after opening
• 1944 Rivesaltes or Maury — 150-320 euro
• A 1944 first growth bought frankly as an object, with drinkability a gamble — 600-1,200 euro

How we grade a bottle

Fill level, label, capsule and cork, then provenance. Every bottle is checked by hand by people who have handled thousands of old bottles, and we write down the flaws as well as the good news. What the fill levels mean · How to choose a birth-year wine