1986 Bordeaux

Welcome to tannin country! The best red wines from 1986 are some of the most tannic and backward titans produced in the latter half of the twentieth century and potentially the most age worthy.

The growing season was hot and dry from early on, forming tiny, thick-skinned Cabernet Sauvignon berries. Come veraison, vines began to struggle due to drought, yet a little rain in August offered just enough respite. This year, for a change, mild mid-September rains were welcomed, especially in the Médoc where vines desperately needed the water to push the Cabernet bunches to ripeness. However, into the third week of September, just as dry whites and some earlier Merlot sites were about to be harvested, a major storm centered on Bordeaux city, Pessac-Léognan, and the right bank, bringing flooding to the city center while dousing hopes of a great vintage in the affected communes. Of the Right Banks for drinking now, Pomerol is a safer bet. A 1986 Château Canon that I tasted recently was on the frail side and needed drinking up, yet still possessed an attractive exotic spices fragrance and minerality. Whereas a Clinet and Vieux Château Certan tasted around the same time had more stuffing and backbone.

Meanwhile, the Médoc remained relatively dry during the run-up to harvest, accounting for the isolated success of the top wines from these communes. The ’86 Mouton Rothschild sums the best of the vintage up beautifully, legendary for its taut, muscular core backed by a skyscraper-like structure. It has aged at a glacial pace. When I last tasted it about a year ago, only then could I claim to have experienced that hedonic thrill that it has long promised now that it has finally started to emerge from its once impenetrable shell. Beyond hallowed first growth territory, there are a number of less pricy ‘86s from Pauillac and Saint-Julien, in particular, that still give a lot of pleasure. Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Leoville-Barton, Talbot, and Lagrange are among some of the delicious offerings I’ve recently tasted.

Overall, Bordeaux yields were very high in 1986, partly due to the successful fruit set and partly due to dilution from the late harvest rains in the Graves and on the right bank, where, in some cases, production was even higher than in 1985 and 1982. Production in the Médoc, on the other hand, was about average.

1986 was also a stellar vintage for the sweet wines of Sauternes and Barsac. Ideal conditions in October kick-started the steady, uniform spread of botrytis. The most successful wines were made from the later-picked November passes. The ’86 Yquem is phenomenal—bright, layered, and intense. What it lacks in richness, it makes up for in energy and stamina. Also worth noting is that many lesser-known Chateaux, such as Sigalas-Rabaud, also crafted gorgeous wines with great cellaring potential, which are worth snapping up if you can find them.