The vintage

1960

The first laser, and a barefoot marathon

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The 1960 vintage, rated

The first laser, and a barefoot marathon

In 2026 a bottle from 1960 marks a 66th birthday or anniversary

The vintage

Modest · 2/5

A cold, wet summer left Bordeaux dilute and short-lived, and Burgundy fared no better; very little from either bank is worth opening now. The saving grace is the Douro, where 1960 was widely declared for vintage Port, and those bottles are medium-weight, sweetly resolved and drinking well at sixty-six. Rioja and Piedmont were unremarkable.

What we would buy, and why

Skip the claret entirely and go to Portugal: a 1960 vintage Port from an established house is around €150-350 and is a far better bottle than any Bordeaux of the year at twice the price. Check that the cork is intact and the shoulder of the bottle is clean, with no sign of seepage, and remember that anything from before 1990 is sold as a collectible rather than with a promise that it will taste perfect. If the recipient does not drink Port, a single-vintage 1960 Bas-Armagnac sidesteps the growing season altogether.

1960 in the world

In May, Theodore Maiman fired the first working laser in a Californian laboratory. That September, Abebe Bikila ran the Rome Olympic marathon with no shoes on, over the cobbles of the Appian Way, and won it.

Best bets for 1960

  • Vintage Port 1960 from Taylor's, Graham's, Warre's or Dow's - the most reliable bottle of the year
  • Bas-Armagnac 1960 from Darroze or Castarède, bottled from a single cask
  • Colheita Port 1960 from Kopke or Niepoort - tawny, nutty, no decanting needed
  • Rivesaltes or Maury 1960 from Domaine Cazes or Mas Amiel, usually under €150

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.