The vintage

2011

A Port year, and a great Sauternes

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The 2011 vintage, rated

A Port year, and a great Sauternes

In 2026 a bottle from 2011 marks a 15th birthday or anniversary

The vintage

Good · 3/5

A strange season: a hot, dry spring, a cool wet summer and a sunny harvest. Red Bordeaux is decent but uneven, while Sauternes 2011 is exceptional. Burgundy made forward, pleasant wines. The Douro had a classic year and 2011 was declared by every major Port house - one of the finest of the century so far. Piedmont was warm and early; Champagne was poor.

What we would buy, and why

For a fifteenth birthday, buy where the year was strong. A 2011 Vintage Port is a bottle to keep for a twenty-first or later; a 2011 Sauternes will keep just as well and is ready now. Red Bordeaux from 2011 is best from the top estates only. If the year is fixed and red is required, a Châteauneuf-du-Pape or a Rioja is the safer choice.

2011 in the world

In April an estimated two billion people watched Prince William marry Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey. In July the Space Shuttle Atlantis landed for the last time, ending thirty years of the programme.

Best bets for 2011

  • Vintage Port 2011 - a universal declaration and a great year
  • Sauternes 2011 - exceptional sweet Bordeaux
  • Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2011 - ripe and generous
  • Top-estate Bordeaux 2011 - an uneven year, so stay with the best names

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.