The vintage

1958

Poor in Bordeaux, glorious in Barolo

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The 1958 vintage, rated

Poor in Bordeaux, glorious in Barolo

In 2026 a bottle from 1958 marks a 68th birthday or anniversary

The vintage

Good · 3/5

A poor to middling year in Bordeaux, with a small, rain-affected crop that made light wines with little left to say. Piedmont, though, had one of the great vintages of the century: 1958 Barolo and Barbaresco are legendary, structured and still going. Rioja also made an outstanding year, and a handful of Port shippers declared a lighter, early-maturing 1958.

What we would buy, and why

This is the clearest case in the decade for looking beyond France. A 1958 Barolo from a house that was estate-bottling at the time is a serious, age-worthy wine at 400-900 euro, and a Rioja Gran Reserva from Lopez de Heredia, La Rioja Alta or CVNE gives a genuinely fine 1958 for 250-500 euro. Leave the 1958 clarets alone - there is no bargain there, only a light wine that was never built for this.

1958 in the world

A Bear Called Paddington was published on 13 October 1958, and a small bear from darkest Peru arrived at a London station with a label round his neck. Three days later Blue Peter went on air for the first time.

Best bets for 1958

  • Barolo 1958 - Borgogno, Fontanafredda or Marchesi di Barolo; Giacomo Conterno's Monfortino is the great one and priced accordingly
  • Barbaresco 1958, frequently a third of the price of the equivalent Barolo
  • Rioja Gran Reserva 1958 from Lopez de Heredia or La Rioja Alta, 250-500 euro and among the best value of the whole decade
  • 1958 vintage Port from one of the shippers who did declare - lighter than 1955, and worth buying on condition rather than name

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

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Ask a person about this year

The people who answer are the same people who check and pack the bottles. Ask for photographs, a condition report or advice on a year and you get a straight answer from the ANNO team, Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 18:00 CET.