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1980 Wine and Port Vintage

 
Vintage Summary and Recommendations:


1980-wine-gifts

Welcome to Vintage Wine and Port's 1980 wine page. Read on for our summary of the 1980 vintage, our top recommendations and region reports. Scroll down to see all of our wines currently available. If you cannot find what you are looking for please call us on 01425 837177 or Contact Us. We would love to help you with your wine choice!

The 1980 vintage was not a great one overall, with few hits across the wine world and even then it never quite went above being strictly average. The biggest disappointments lay in the Old World, particularly in the French regions of Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne, which saw very few great wines produced. Although some good Rhône Valley, Spanish and Port wines were made. Any of these wines would make a fabulous 45 year old wine gift for an Anniversary or birthday.


Our Wine Expert currently recommends the following wines for this year:

  • Ryst Dupeyron Armagnac 1980 Reserve Joseph Millesime vintage Armagnac
  • Bodegas Toro Albala 1980 Don PX Seleccion
  • Quinta Das Carvalhas 1980 Colheita Port – with gift tube
  • Barolo 1980 Giordano

  •  
    This Year in History: Fun Fact: Tennis player Venus Williams was born.
    Eurovision Winner: Ireland with the song "What's Another Year" by Johnny Logan
    Top Grossing Movie: Star Wars Ep. V: The Empire Strikes Back
     
    Bordeaux: The 1980 wine vintage produced wines of variable quality from Bordeaux. A very wet, cool year resulted in wines that were light and diluted. Nevertheless, some producers who operated a strict selection policy still managed to produce acceptable wines.
     
    Champagne: In Champagne, the 1980 is an exceptionally fine, rich vintage.
     
    Italian: 1980 for Italian wines was a very good year. The wines are generally quite consistent and there are some great Barolo wines from Piedmont. The wines have reached full maturity but will last for a few more years.
     
    Portugal: The 1980 Port vintage is rated as outstanding and was generally declared vintage. Over time the 1980 Ports have been hugely under-rated book-ended by the great 1977 and large abundant 1983 and 1985 vintages. This vintage is ready now but will continue to develop and keep for decades, making them the perfect wine gift for a birthday or anniversary. An unusually early spring was followed by an extremely dry growing season and sugar readings were on the low side when picking began a week or so later than normal, at the end of September.

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    49 products found.

    Madeira, 1980

    di Savorgnana, Podere del Sole

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    1980 Madeira – di Savorgnana, Podere del Sole (Madeira, Portugal)

    A rare, fully mature vintage Madeira bottled for di Savorgnana / Podere del Sole, showing the island’s hallmark tension between luscious sweetness and tangy, sea-breeze freshness. Deep amber–mahogany with a burnished rim. The nose is gloriously complex: orange marmalade and candied peel, Medjool date and fig, toasted almond and walnut, caramel/treacle and brûlée crust, with classic rancio tones of varnished oak, iodine and salt toffee.

    Silky yet electric on the palate. Layers of candied citrus, raisin and toffee are cut by rapier acidity;
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    Price: £89.95
    Stock: 1 in Stock

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    Montepulciano, 1980

    d'Abbruzo, Casal Thaulero - BIG BOTTLE of 3,78 Liters

    Montepulciano is a red wine grape variety grown widely in central Italy, most notably its eastern Abruzzo, Marche and Molise regions. The variety was named after the Tuscan parish of Montepulciano, but, confusingly, is not used in the famous wines produced there (see Vino Nobile di Montepulciano). Globally appreciated for their soft flavors, strong color and gentle tannins, Montepulciano wines are typically best consumed in their youth and with food. The deep-purple juice of Montepulciano grapes is used in varying proportions to produce wines under roughly 50 of Italy's DOC and DOCG titles. Although sometimes used on its own,
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    Price: £195.00
    Stock: 1 in Stock

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    Nebbiolo D'Alba, 1980

    Poderi Scanavino

    The Nebbiolo has a lovely earthy bouquet. The nose has cherries, dark cherries, tar and slight dried rose notes. Complex and layered. Nice acidity. Medium tannins still present. Cherries on the palate too. Nice finish. Great food wine. Nebbiolo is a fickle grape famed as much for its pale appearance as for its tannic character and produces some of the most perfumed and richly flavored wines. Though generally only medium-bodied, the wines possess rose and anise scented aromatics and deep flavors of cherry, orange peel and subtle green herb tones.
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    Price: £79.00
    Stock: 4 in Stock

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    Nobile di Montepulciano, 1980

    Cantina di Montepulciano - Riserva

    1980 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano – Cantina di Montepulciano, Riserva (Tuscany, Italy)

    A fully mature, classically styled Riserva that favours perfume and savoury finesse over power. Brick-garnet with a broad tawny rim, it opens on dried cherry and amarena, rose petal and cedar, with sweet tobacco, leather and hints of orange peel and black tea. The palate is mid-weight and silken: lively, old-school acidity carries savoury red-cherry fruit, dried herbs and a gentle balsamic note; tannins are fine and resolved. The finish is long and tapering with cherry skin, cedar spice and dried flowers.
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    Price: £79.00
    Stock: 2 in Stock

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    Nobile di Montepulciano, 1980

    Fanetti - Riserva

    Nobile di Montepulciano is a red wine with a Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita status produced in the vineyards surrounding the town of Montepulciano, Italy. The wine is made primarily from the Sangiovese grape varietal (known locally as Prugnolo gentile) (minimum 70%), blended with Canaiolo Nero (10%–20%) and small amounts of other local varieties such as Mammolo. The wine is aged for 2 years (at least 1 year in oak barrels); three years if it is a riserva.
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    Price: £79.00
    Stock: 36 in Stock

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    Nobile di Montepulciano, 1980

    Fanetti - Riserva

    1980 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano – Fanetti, Riserva (Tuscany, Italy)

    A fully mature, classically styled Riserva showing perfume and savoury finesse. Brick-garnet with a broad tawny rim, it opens on dried cherry and amarena, rose petal and cedar, with sweet tobacco, leather and hints of orange peel and black tea. Mid-weight and silken on the palate: lively, old-school acidity carries savoury red-cherry fruit, dried herbs and a gentle balsamic/underbrush note; tannins are fine and resolved. The finish is long and tapering with cherry skin, cedar spice and dried flowers.

    Producer note: Fanetti is one of Montepulciano’s historic families,
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    Price: £59.95
    Stock: 12 in Stock

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    Nobile di Montepulciano, 1980

    Sanguinetti - Riserva

    Nobile di Montepulciano is a red wine with a Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita status produced in the vineyards surrounding the town of Montepulciano, Italy. The wine is made primarily from the Sangiovese grape varietal (known locally as Prugnolo gentile) (minimum 70%), blended with Canaiolo Nero (10%–20%) and small amounts of other local varieties such as Mammolo. The wine is aged for 2 years (at least 1 year in oak barrels); three years if it is a riserva.
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    Price: £79.00
    Stock: 1 in Stock

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    Ramos Pinto, 1980

    Vintage Port

    A 1980 Ramos Pinto Port is also likely to be a fantastic choice. The 1980 vintage is highly regarded for port wines, and Ramos Pinto is a respected producer, so you're probably in for a treat.

    Vintage ports from 1980 often display intense flavors of dark fruits, such as blackberry, plum, and cherry, along with notes of chocolate, spices, and sometimes even a hint of tobacco. These wines typically have a velvety texture and a long, satisfying finish.

    A 1980 Ramos Pinto Port would be perfect for sipping on its own after a meal or paired with rich desserts like chocolate truffles or a flourless chocolate cake.
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    Price: £129.00
    Stock: 1 in Stock

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    Recioto, 1980

    Tommasi

    1980 Recioto della Valpolicella – Tommasi (Veneto, Italy)

    A rare, fully mature sweet red from air-dried Corvina, Rondinella & Molinara—silky, hedonistic and beautifully poised. Deep mahogany-garnet with a tawny rim. The nose is sumptuous and layered: amarena cherry, dried fig and plum, blood-orange peel, cocoa and espresso, with walnut brittle, sweet spice and a gentle balsamic/cedar lift. The palate is rich yet refined—candied cherry and date wrapped in dark chocolate and kirsch; acidity still bright, tannins melted to velvet. Long, warming finish of cacao, orange zest and spiced cherry.

    Producer note: Tommasi is one of Valpolicella’s historic families,
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    Price: £149.00
    Stock: 1 in Stock

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    Sizzano, 1980

    Francesco Fontana Alto Piemonte
    Clearance Offer Was £69
    Now £35

    A Historic Nebbiolo Blend from Alto Piemonte
    The 1980 Sizzano Francesco Fontana offers a rare and authentic glimpse into Alto Piemonte’s traditional winemaking. Sizzano is a historic DOC in northern Piedmont, where Nebbiolo (known locally as Spanna) is typically blended with smaller amounts of Vespolina and Uva Rara to create a more approachable, fragrant style. Francesco Fontana’s bottling embodies the rustic elegance and age-worthy character that this area is celebrated for.

    A Vintage with Subtle Elegance
    The 1980 vintage in northern Piedmont was cooler and more challenging, resulting in wines with higher acidity, moderate alcohol, and more delicate structure.
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    Price: £35.00
    Stock: 2 in Stock

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    Taylor Fladgate, 1980

    Vintage Port

    Taylor Fladgate 1980 Vintage Port is a classic expression from one of the Douro’s most prestigious houses, produced in a year that yielded elegant, long-lived wines. Now with more than four decades of bottle age, the 1980 Taylor has developed into a beautifully mature Vintage Port, showing the finesse, structure and aromatic lift that define the house style. It is widely regarded as one of the standout wines of the vintage.

    The nose is richly evolved yet wonderfully fresh, offering lifted aromas of dried blackberry, cherry liqueur, fig and plum. Layers of violets, cedar, cocoa and warm spice emerge with time, alongside subtle notes of eucalyptus—an unmistakable Taylor signature.
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    Price: £99.00
    Stock: 4 in Stock

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    Vei Cavour (Piemonte), 1980

    Giordano

    Aged red wine. Selected red grapes produce this lively and elegant wine with an intense red colour and subtle orange tones. Its soft velvety bouquet results from a period of maturation in Slavonian oak barrels, ensuring a full and rounded taste.
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    Price: £69.00
    Stock: 3 in Stock

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    Vin Santo, 1980

    Frescobaldi

    Vino Santo has been made in Tuscany since at least medieval times, and was probably named 'holy wine' because of its use during the Mass. Antinori has been making vinsanto for centuries. A dessert wine bright yellow in colour with amber hues. Generous, complex aromas with hints of honey and dried fruit. A well-structured, pleasantly sweet and lingering flavour.
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    Price: £99.00
    Stock: 11 in Stock

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    Barbaresco, 1980

    Giordano
    Was £149 Clearance Offer | Last One | £75

    Barbaresco is one of the great wines of Italy's north-western Piedmont region. This aristocratic red has its vineyards situated in the Langhe, on the right-hand side of the Tanaro river and extending from the area north-east of Alba to the communes of Barbaresco, Nieve and Treiso. The dominant variety grown is Nebbiolo, but Dolcetto and Barbera also play a part. The vines are generally grown on limestone-rich marl soils. similar to the Tortonium soils of the Barolo and La Morra areas in Barolo. Similar to its more famous sibling Barolo, Barbaresco is made from 100% Nebbiolo and shares its cult status as one of the finest wines in the world.
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    Price: £75.00
    Stock: Out of Stock

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    Barolo, 1980

    Pio Cesare, Piedmont
    Was £129 Clearance Offer £65

    1980 Barolo – Pio Cesare (Piedmont, Italy)

    A fully mature, classical Barolo that prizes perfume and savoury finesse over power. Brick-garnet with a broad tawny rim; aromas of dried cherry and cranberry, rose petal and violet, cedar, leather and sweet tobacco, with hints of orange peel, tea leaf and a gentle tar/balsamic lift. Mid-weight and silken on the palate: lively, old-world acidity carries red-cherry fruit, dried herbs and subtle underbrush; tannins are fine and resolved. The finish is long and tapering with cherry skin, cedar spice and dried flowers.

    Producer note: Pio Cesare is one of Barolo’s historic houses (founded 1881 in Alba), celebrated for a traditional large-cask style that ages into fragrance, polish and poise.
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    Price: £65.00
    Stock: Out of Stock

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    Blandys, 1980

    Sercial
    HALF BOTTLE 37.5cl

    The 1980 Blandys Sercial Madeira is "Based on Sercial grown on the north west corner of the island at Seixal and Porto Moniz where I am told that this grape produces the most gentle fruit: lovely clean, lifted aromas, green fruit, apple peel with a touch of citrus; lovely fresh appley flavours with a hint of toffee and milk-chocolate, perhaps just a touch of salinity, steely acidity running all the way through, fresh and lithe on the finish, dry but not austerely so with 55g/l of residual sugar. Just 800 bottles in total."
    Score: 18 Richard Mayson, richardmayson.com, January 2019
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    Price: £119.00
    Stock: Out of Stock

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    Blandys, 1980

    Terrantez Madeira
    Presented in Wooden Gift Box

    Blandy’s Terrantez 1980

    Review bySarah Ahmed "The Wine Detective". "I’m a huge Terrantez fan and this one ticks all the right boxes. Smooth on the nose with a smooze of light caramel and sweet café crème. A lick of tobacco herbality – greener – lends appetising lift. The saliva glands are at work already! And so it is in the mouth – almost creamy on entry, yet penetrating too thanks to its lively, very persistent backbone of acidity. Delicate staccato spices and a lick of toffee apple seduce. That bottled electricity, v.a. accelerant fires up a super long, reverberating finish, its delicious woody, mellow timbre deftly leavened by that light, herbal riff.
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    Price: £195.00
    Stock: Out of Stock

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    Montepulciano, 1980

    d'Abruzzo, Vecchio Colle
    Clearance Offer – Last Bottle Was £69 Now £35

    Montepulciano is a red wine grape variety grown widely in central Italy, most notably its eastern Abruzzo, Marche and Molise regions. The variety was named after the Tuscan parish of Montepulciano, but, confusingly, is not used in the famous wines produced there (see Vino Nobile di Montepulciano). Globally appreciated for their soft flavors, strong color and gentle tannins, Montepulciano wines are typically best consumed in their youth and with food. The deep-purple juice of Montepulciano grapes is used in varying proportions to produce wines under roughly 50 of Italy's DOC and DOCG titles. Although sometimes used on its own,
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    Price: £35.00
    Stock: Out of Stock

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    Nebbiolo, 1980

    Giovanni Scanavino
    Was £99 Clearance | damaged Label £50

    1980 Nebbiolo – Giovanni Scanavino (Piedmont, Italy)

    A fully mature, classical Nebbiolo that favours perfume and savoury finesse. Brick-garnet with a broad tawny rim, the bouquet lifts with dried cherry and cranberry, rose petal and violet, cedar, leather and sweet tobacco, with hints of orange peel, tea leaf and a gentle tar/balsamic note. Mid-weight and silken on the palate: lively, old-world acidity carries red-cherry fruit, dried herbs and subtle underbrush; tannins are fine and resolved. The finish is long and tapering with cherry skin, cedar spice and dried flowers.

    Producer note: Bottled by Giovanni Scanavino,
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    Price: £50.00
    Stock: Out of Stock

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    Nobile di Montepulciano, 1980

    Buracchi - Riserva
    Clearance Offer – Last Bottle Was £69 Now £37.50

    Nobile di Montepulciano is a red wine with a Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita status produced in the vineyards surrounding the town of Montepulciano, Italy. The wine is made primarily from the Sangiovese grape varietal (known locally as Prugnolo gentile) (minimum 70%), blended with Canaiolo Nero (10%–20%) and small amounts of other local varieties such as Mammolo. The wine is aged for 2 years (at least 1 year in oak barrels); three years if it is a riserva.
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    Price: £37.50
    Stock: Out of Stock

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    Rioja, 1980

    Conde de la Salceda Gran Reserva

    A rare and distinguished Gran Reserva from the 1980 vintage. This mature Rioja offers a classic bouquet of dried cherry, cedar, tobacco, and earthy spice, with a smooth palate showing mellow red fruit, leather, and balsamic warmth. Elegant and fully evolved, with a long, savoury finish.
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    Price: £75.00
    Stock: Out of Stock

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    Rioja, 1980

    Berberana- Gran reserva-
    Rioja

    Founded in 1877, Bodegas Berberana is one of Rioja’s oldest and most traditional houses, producing age-worthy wines with long barrel and bottle maturation. Gran Reserva bottlings are only made in strong vintages and spend several years in oak before release, built for decades of cellaring.

    Tasting Note: Tawny-garnet in colour with a fading rim. Mature aromas of dried strawberry, leather, vanilla, cedar, and tobacco leaf. On the palate, smooth and resolved, with silky tannins, dried fruit, earthy spice, and a gentle balsamic edge. The finish is elegant, savoury, and long.
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    Price: £59.95
    Stock: Out of Stock

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    Rosso, 1980

    Rapitalia - Gatinais, Sicily, Italy
    Was £89 Clearance | Last Bottle £50

    1980 Rosso – Rapitalà (Gatinais) (Sicily, Italy)

    A fully mature, old-school Sicilian red showing perfume and savoury finesse. Brick-garnet with a tawny rim, it opens on dried cherry and strawberry, blood-orange peel, rose and dried herbs, with cedar, leather, sweet tobacco and a gentle balsamic/underbrush note. Mid-weight and silken on the palate: lively Mediterranean acidity carries red-fruit, chinotto and a touch of dried fig; tannins are fine and resolved. The finish is long and tapering with cherry skin, orange zest and soft spice.

    Producer note: Tenuta Rapitalà was revitalised in the late 1960s by Count Hugues Bernard de la Gatinais,
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    Price: £50.00
    Stock: Out of Stock

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    Warre's Vintage Port, 1980

    Vintage Port

    An outstanding 30 year old port just reaching full maturity. Reviews: Wine Spectator, October 1988 “Excellent Port from an overlooked vintage”. Malcolm Gluck, The Guardian, 23rd December 1995 “Overwhelmingly fruity and flowing. Beautiful, round and smooth. Quite exceptional”. WINE, December 2001 93 Points “The best colour thus far with a rich peppery nose and a meaty, complex long finish. Excellent”. Michael Broadbent, Vintage Wine, Published 2002 Four Stars (Very Good) “Best wine of the evening…Still very deep; fragrant; extraordinarily dense, figgy flavour and impressive, very dry finish”.
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    Price: £89.00
    Stock: Out of Stock

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