The vintage

1972

A washout in France, so look elsewhere

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The 1972 vintage, rated

A washout in France, so look elsewhere

In 2026 a bottle from 1972 marks a 54th birthday or anniversary

The vintage

Modest · 2/5

There is no polite way to put it: 1972 was cold and wet, and Bordeaux made thin, hollow wines that were poor young and are worse now. Piedmont was worse still — rain and hail meant many Barolo producers bottled nothing at all. The consolations are Burgundy, where the high acidity that made the wines unfashionable has kept them alive, and the northern Rhône, which had a decent season.

What we would buy, and why

Do not buy 1972 Bordeaux as a gift, at any price. The honest answer for this year is a fortified wine or a spirit: a 1972 Armagnac or a single-vintage Madeira will arrive in good condition, needs no allowances made for it, and is in no hurry to be opened. If it has to be a bottle of red, a Côte de Nuits from a serious domaine is the one gamble worth taking.

1972 in the world

On 7 December 1972 the crew of Apollo 17 took the photograph now known as the Blue Marble — the first picture of the whole lit face of the Earth taken by human hands.

Best bets for 1972

  • Armagnac 1972 from Baron de Sigognac, Castarède or Domaine Boingnères — €150–300 and beyond reproach
  • A 1972 Madeira from Barbeito, Blandy's or D'Oliveiras — sweet, effectively indestructible, and a real curiosity at €200–400
  • A 1972 colheita Port from Kopke or Barros — cask-aged tawny, something to drink rather than merely admire
  • Gevrey-Chambertin or Vosne-Romanée 1972 from a well-known domaine, if the recipient is a wine person who will enjoy the story

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

Real people, not a chatbot

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.