1951

What we would buy, and why

Do not buy a 1951 claret, however cheap it looks and whatever story is attached to it. This is precisely the year for spirit rather than wine: Bas-Armagnac from 1951 was distilled regardless of the weather and has spent decades in oak becoming something worth giving, usually 300-600 euro, with no condition risk whatever. We will always hunt the exact year first, but if nothing sound exists we will say so rather than sell you a disappointment.

1951 in the world

The Festival of Britain opened on the South Bank in May 1951, a deliberate splash of colour after years of rationing. That July a first novel called The Catcher in the Rye went on sale in New York.

Best bets for 1951

• Bas-Armagnac 1951 - Laberdolive, Castarede or a Darroze single-domaine bottling, 300-600 euro
• Vintage Cognac 1951, where the house can document the year in its own records rather than the retailer's description
• Tokaji Aszu 1951 from the old Hungarian state cellars, if a sound bottle surfaces - sweet, high in acid and unusually durable
• Vintage Madeira from the early 1950s, which will comfortably outlive everyone at the table

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