1947

What we would buy, and why

1947 is famous and priced accordingly, and the famous bottle is five figures and among the most faked wines in existence, so we do not chase it. The value sits in Sauternes, in the Douro and in Piedmont, where the same heat made wines that have held their fruit and cost a fraction of the Right Bank names. Anything red and dry from this year should come with a fill at top shoulder or better and a cellar we can name, because the heat left some bottles unstable even when they were young.

1947 in the world

Christian Dior showed his first collection in February and the press christened it the New Look. Three months later the first car to carry Enzo Ferrari's own name went out to race.

Best bets for 1947

• 1947 Sauternes: Climens, Suduiraut or Rieussec — 700-1,400 euro
• 1947 Vintage Port from Dow, Warre, Cockburn or Sandeman — 700-1,500 euro
• 1947 Barolo from Borgogno, released late from the estate's own cellar — 500-900 euro
• Bas-Armagnac 1947 — 450-800 euro if the gift is to be poured rather than kept

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