1953

What we would buy, and why

This is a year where the wine itself can be the gift rather than the curiosity, though 1953 was built on charm rather than muscle, so condition is everything and a tired bottle has nothing in reserve. Like everything pre-1990, it is bought as a collectible item rather than with a promise that it will be delicious, which is exactly why provenance is worth paying for: a classed growth from one traceable cellar with a neck fill at 600-1,200 euro beats a first growth with a vague history at the same money. Ask whether it was bottled at the chateau - a great deal of 1953 was shipped in cask and bottled in London, and those bottles vary enormously.

1953 in the world

On coronation morning, 2 June 1953, London woke to the news that Hillary and Tenzing had reached the summit of Everest four days earlier. Two months before that, Watson and Crick had published a short paper in Nature describing the shape of DNA.

Best bets for 1953

• A Margaux classed growth 1953 - Palmer, Rauzan-Segla, or Chateau Margaux itself
• Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1953, the vintage's most celebrated bottle, if the budget runs to four figures
• 1953 Champagne from Krug or Dom Perignon, late-disgorged and from a documented cellar
• Sauternes 1953 - Climens or Coutet at around 300-500 euro, the surest way to give a 1953 that will still taste of something

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