Great wines born in Chinese year of the dog

Celebrate the new Chinese year of the dog with a fine wine that was born under the same zodiac sign - and there's quite a choice, from the fabled Bordeaux 1982 wines to vintage Port and Vega Sicilia.

Bordeaux 1982 is an obvious contender for the greatest overall vintage that was harvested during the Chinese year of the dog in the last few decades.

Chinese New Year officially begins on 16 February and this year’s animal sign, the dog, takes over from the rooster.

Below, Decanter Premium members can find examples of Bordeaux 1982 wines tasted by Jane Anson, plus several other top wines from around the world, all tasted by Decanter experts and which were born in Chinese ‘dog’ years.

These also include Vega Sicilia Unico 1970, Fonseca Port 1994, and Masseto 2006.

Perhaps we should have included a Pol Roger Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill in the list below, given that Britain’s famous wartime prime minister was also born under the sign of the dog.

Some well-known wine names to have been born in the year of the dog include Burgundy’s Christophe Roumier, winemaker at Domaine Georges Roumier, plus also DecanterChina columnist professor Li Demei, who is also a top expert in Chinese wines.

Wolfgang Blass was also born under the sign of the dog, in 1934 in Germany. He went on to become one of the pioneers of the modern Australian wine industry, of course.

• See our graphic from 2017 on famous wine names and their Chinese zodiac sign