1987 Bordeaux

1987 is one of those vintages that had a lot going for it until it was tragically marred by torrential rains at harvest.

The growing season started cold and rainy, resulting in a late budburst. Rain in early June played havoc with the flowering, which would impact yields and ultimately lead to cases of millerandage (uneven ripening). This was annoying but not necessarily detrimental to quality. July turned warm and sunny, leading to a beneficial weather trend that would continue through August and September. After the dry white grapes came in without a hitch, harvest for the red varieties was tracking for early October. But just as the secateurs were readied at the beginning of October, the heavens opened. Throughout most of the Merlot and Cabernet harvests, it poured. The real tragedy of 1987 is that the grapes were mostly ripe, but dilution was unavoidable.

The best red wines were soft and delicately styled but didn’t have the structure and concentration to stand the test of time. Most are well past their drinking windows now.

1987 was actually a very good year for dry whites. However, this amount of rain at this late stage, combined with warm conditions, was also to the detriment of the sweet wine of Sauternes and Barsac. Grey rot, as opposed to noble rot, ran rampant, destroying most of the crop. A number of wineries in Sauternes released nothing this year, but d’Yquem managed to pull it out of a bag and make a surprisingly impressive wine.