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.
Vega Sicilia, Unico, Ribera del Duero, Castilla y Léon, Spain, 1970
Layered and complex, this Unico is incredibly youthful given its age. Gorgeous, filled with savoury herbs and sweet oak flavours and a persistent finish.
1970
Vega SiciliaRibera del Duero
Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 1982
May Eliane de Lencquesaing had been at Pichon since 1978, so four years by the time the 1982 rolled around. The Merlot levels are a little higher than they are today (it was a favourite grape of her father's), but this flamboyant, fleshy style is exotic in all the right places. In fact it jumps out of the glass, with its caramel-edged sweet black fruits. The aromatics are still full-on wow, the fruits and tannins melded perfectly together. It's been two years since I last tasted this wine, and it was every bit as good back then. Harvest 16-30 September. 8% Petit Verdot finishes the blend.
1982
Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de LalandePauillac
Château Margaux, Margaux, 1er Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 1982
Vibrant, elegant and characterful – a complex nose full of floral scents, baked blackcurrants and cherries, totally beguiling yet delicate and graceful. A smoky palate with charred toast, caramelised fruit, cigar smoke and truffles. Tannins are fleshy, almost chewy with acidity bright and alive. Sharp, smooth, deep – this offers such interplay of power and grace, and such a long finish that still has a menthol, liquorice tang and bite, reminding you that there is much more to come from this exceptional wine.
1982
Château MargauxMargaux
R López de Heredia, Viña Tondonia, Rioja, Northern Spain, Spain, 1994
<p>It’s a real surprise just how suddenly these terrifically aged wines have become so fashionable. This gran reserva is magisterial: a combination of power and lean elegance. With up to 10 years of age in US oak, the wine is attenuated in colour, but not in palate strength. Forest-floor aromas, delicate and supple in the mouth and very long. And look at the alcohol!</p>
1994
R López de HerediaRioja
Kalin Cellars, Cuvée Billon Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley, California, USA, 1994
The best North American Pinot Noir I’ve ever tasted, husband-and-wife team Terry and Frances Leighton produced only two barrels of this magical wine to commemorate the death of tonnelier Gaston Billon, one of Burgundy’s great artisanal barrel makers. The wine soars from the glass in a blaze of cocoa powder, rich earth, cinnamon, violets and lovely red-black fruit tones—a nose of kaleidoscopic complexity. On the palate the wine is seamless, vibrant and effortlessly balanced, evoking a top Côte de Nuits grand cru—the only standard against which it can be measured.
1994
Kalin CellarsSonoma County
Ferrari, Riserva del Fondatore Giulio Ferrari, Trento, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy, 2006
Giulio Ferrari was a pioneering polyglot nurseryman from Trentino with two great passions in life: Chardonnay, which he was instrumental in introducing into Italy on a wide scale, and Champagne. Following his intuition that the slopes of the Adige valley offered the growing conditions for making great sparkling wines, he started experimenting with the Champagne method around the beginning of the last century and by 1906 was already picking up gold medals for the results. The wine which bears his name was first made by the current owners of the house, the Lunelli family, in 1972 and has been produced in the same style ever since. The Riserva del Fondatore is extra brut in style and comes from vineyards on the Pianizza estate located 500m-600m above sea level on the cool side of the river valley. It ages on its lees for 10 years and will happily keep and improve for another decade. Tiny bubbles, with pristine clarity on a nose of toasted hazelnuts, apricot and baked apple with a nuance of bread crust and vanilla. Sumptuous creamy texture, vibrantly fresh and infinitely long.
2006
FerrariTrento
Deutz, Amour de Deutz Rosé Brut, Champagne, France, 2006
A new king has ascended in the great kingdom of Deutz rosé. It takes all the wizardry and resources of Deutz to create a new rosé of such thrilling, towering magnificence, at once ethereal in its elegance, precise in its definition and fairy-light on its feet, yet grand in its presence and depth of fruit power. An instant addition to Champagne’s top tier of rosés.
2006
Deutz
