A bottle of wine or Port from 1984 makes the perfect 40 year old wine gift, whether for a birthday or anniversary.
The 1984 wine vintage was a challenging year for production in many regions, but some good wines were produced in Italy and Portugal. Wine quality can depend on the specific producer, the vineyard, and how well the wine has been stored over the years. At Vintage Wine and Port we work to secure bottles with the best provenance. Armagnacs or Madeira are always in top form.
Portugal (Port): 1984 Port Vintage was not widely declared but some good single Quinta Ports and Colheita Ports were Produced. In 1984, the weather in the Douro Valley was reportedly challenging, with adverse conditions during the growing season, despite this some producers still managed to make good quality Ports.
Italian: We recommend wines from the Piedmont region in Italy which is renowned for producing high-quality wines, particularly Barolo and Barbaresco,
which are made from the Nebbiolo grape. The 1984 vintage in Piedmont is generally considered a good year. The 1984 growing season in Piedmont was marked by challenging weather, including a cool and rainy spring. However, the weather improved during the summer, allowing for a good ripening of the grapes. Despite the initial challenges, many producers were able to make wines of good quality.
Bordeaux: The 1984 vintage in Bordeaux is generally considered a challenging one.
The Bordeaux vintage got off to a good start with a warm April. Things quickly went downhill after that; May was cool and rainy which led to poor flowering particularly for the Merlot crop. This had follow on problems in the Right Bank (St Emilion, Pomerol), as there was not enough ripe Merlot to create quality Bordeaux wine. The producers in the Left Bank tended to over compensate with more Cabernet Sauvignon. By the time July arrived, the vintage was lagging behind. July and August were warm, dry months which helped the left bank chateaux into thinking the vintage would end up fine, if their wines were Cabernet Sauvignon based. In September, Cyclone Hortense hit the Bordeaux wine region, the first in its history. Many right bank Chateau declassified their entire crop in St. Emilion and Pomerol.
The left bank fared slightly better but the wines produced were diluted; few have survived today and those that have are now quite a rarity.