1985 Wine and Port Vintage
Vintage Summary and Recommendations: 
Welcome to Vintage Wine and Port's 1985 wine page. Read on for our summary of the 1985 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!
1985 is unanimously regarded as a wonderful vintage for much of the wine world, especially in Europe.
Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhône and Champagne all put out extraordinary vintages; some, like Champagne, are even regarded as a vintage of the decade. Safe to say, there should still be a wide range of 1985 French wine still drinking well today, particularly long-lived reds from the major growing regions. Italy was also exceptionally good. The Port vintage was universally declared and there will be many great Ports still drinking well today and quite likely for some time still to come. Any of these wines would make a fabulous 40 year old wine gift for an Anniversary or birthday.
Our Wine Expert currently recommends the following wines for this year:
This Year in History: Fun Fact: Walt Disney World received its 200-millionth guest.
Eurovision Winner: Norway with the song " La Det Swinge" by Bobbysocks
Top Grossing Movie: Back to the Future
Bordeaux: The 1985 wine vintage produced examples that are characterised by being well developed, rich and having a seductive complexity with an attractive perfume. A drought for much of August and September led to concentrated grapes at harvest. The wines have now generally gone through the peak of their maturity and should be drunk within the next few years.
Italian: 1985 was an outstanding vintage for Italian wines, one of the best in the last 50 years for Piedmont and Tuscany. The vintage produced wines of great consistency, and the best wines should be great.
Portugal:
The 1985 is a great classic Port Vintage, with concentrated, rich and potent wines. The year was a general declaration of vintage, the majority of Houses judging it to be up to their high standards. 1985 was a model year for the growth of the vines: a wet winter followed by a moderate spring led into an extremely warm June and a hot July and August. The harvest took place under perfect weather conditions, and the fermentations went well also. From the very start shippers were predicting outstanding wines. The resulting ports are characterised as being forward with enormous structure, and staggering depth, dimension, and length. They are at the peak of their maturity and will remain so for another 10-15 years. Spain: 1985 was a near-perfect vintage for Spanish wines, with a warm summer and a perfect ripening season. The wines produced are generally easy-drinking wines of medium intensity. About 10% of wine went into Gran Reserva production.
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40 products found.
Frei Joao, 1985
Frei Joao, Bairrada Includes Wooden Gift Box
Mark a milestone with the 1985 Frei João Bairrada, an exceptional vintage that shares its birth year with someone born in 1985. This wine has matured gracefully over four decades, offering a rare and meaningful way to celebrate life's journey. Perfect for a special occasion, it embodies the elegance and character that only time can provide.
Tasting Notes:
This 1985 vintage reveals a beautifully evolved profile. Aromas of dried red fruits, leather, and subtle spice emerge from the glass, reflecting its long ageing. On the palate, it offers a refined balance of mature cherry and plum, with hints of tobacco, cedar, and earthy undertones. …
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Price: £69.00
Stock: 23 in Stock
Graham's Port
40 Year Old Tawny Port New Edition
Decanter (DWWA 2025) Gold
RRP £219 Special Offer £185
Graham's 40 Year Old Tawny. A truly remarkable wine cared for across generations. A great testament to the arts of blending, cooperage, and ageing. Aged for an average of 40 years in seasoned oak casks, our 40 Year Old Tawny is a testament to time and patience. Composed of wines put aside generations ago, this is an incredible wine with an amazingly long finish, indicating both its age and immense quality.
Graham's 40 Years Old Tawny is made from wines of the very highest quality which, following careful selection, are matured in seasoned oak casks of until their peak of maturity is reached. …
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Price: £185.00
Stock: 6 in Stock
Hine Grand Champagne Cognac, 1985
Champagne Cognac
John Harvey & Sons, Bristol
1985 Hine Grande Champagne Cognac is a rare vintage release from one of Cognac’s most revered houses. Distilled exclusively from grapes harvested in 1985 and sourced from the prestigious Grande Champagne region—the Premier Cru of Cognac—this expression reflects Hine’s signature elegance and precision. With nearly four decades of slow ageing in French oak casks, it offers a glimpse into a singular vintage shaped by time and terroir.
On the nose, the 1985 vintage opens with a rich bouquet of dried apricots, candied orange peel, toasted walnuts, and vanilla bean. Layers of old leather, polished wood, and floral undertones emerge with time in the glass, showcasing the complexity that only decades of maturation can deliver. …
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Price: £195.00
Stock: 3 in Stock
Nobile di Montepulciano, 1985
Giuseppe Fanetti - Riserva
1985 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva, Giuseppe Fanetti
Tuscany, Italy
The 1985 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva from Giuseppe Fanetti is a magnificent example of traditional Tuscan winemaking at its most expressive. Fanetti, often credited with reviving the reputation of Montepulciano’s wines in the post-war era, produced reds of remarkable purity and finesse from his historic Tenuta Sant’Agnese estate.
The 1985 vintage, one of the most celebrated of the century in central Italy, yielded wines of perfect ripeness and balance — and this Riserva showcases those traits in full measure. …
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Price: £69.95
Stock: 3 in Stock
Perrier Jouet, 1985
La Belle Epoque
Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque 1985
Vintage Background
The 1985 vintage in Champagne is regarded as one of the finest of the decade. A cold winter was followed by a favourable spring and summer, with warm, dry conditions that allowed grapes to ripen fully while preserving acidity. Harvest took place under near-perfect conditions, resulting in wines of richness, precision, and superb ageing potential. For Perrier-Jouët, the vintage offered the ideal platform to craft Belle Époque — its iconic prestige cuvée, celebrated for elegance, finesse, and floral character.
Appearance & Nose
After nearly four decades, the 1985 Belle Époque shows a deep golden colour with a fine yet gentle mousse. …
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Price: £325.00
Stock: 1 in Stock
Sandeman
40 Year Old Tawny Port
***95 Points- GOLD Winner- IWC 2024***
***95 Points- Gold - Decanter 2024***
Comes in Original Gift Tube
The Sandeman 40 Year Old Tawny Port is a luxurious and complex aged tawny port, known for its exceptional depth and sophistication. This port is the result of meticulous blending and extended aging in oak casks, which imparts rich flavours and a smooth, refined character.
Tasting Notes
Deep amber with golden and greenish highlights, indicating a long aging process. Its aroma is intricate, with notes of dried fruits, toasted nuts, caramel, honey, spice, vanilla, and oak. The palate is remarkably smooth, rich, and full-bodied, with a harmonious blend of dried fruits, toffee, caramel, cinnamon, nutmeg, and citrus. …
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Price: £149.00
Stock: 6 in Stock
Taittinger, 1985
Taittinger collection, Roy Lichtenstein edition in Presentation Box
Vintage & Edition Background
The 1985 Taittinger Collection Roy Lichtenstein is part of Taittinger’s renowned artist-series, which pairs exceptional vintage Champagnes with striking artwork. Released in 1990, this edition features a bold design by American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, known for his graphic style inspired by comic books. The wine itself is a Brut Vintage 1985, drawn from a blend of approximately 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay, sourced from the Grands Crus of Champagne’s Côte des Blancs, Montagne de Reims, and Vallée de la Marne.
Appearance & Nose
In the glass the champagne shows a mature golden-amber tone with fine bubbles. …
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Price: £385.00
Stock: 1 in Stock
Messias
40 Year Old Tawny Port in Gift Tube
93 Points Mark Squires - Wine Advocate
A benchmark 40-year-old tawny from Caves Messias, this port is a showcase of expert ageing and blending. It strikes an exceptional balance between maturity and vibrancy, offering rich oxidative character without becoming overly woody or tired. Ideal for sipping slowly and savouring its nuanced depth, this is a connoisseur’s tawny with remarkable poise.
Tasting Notes:
Messias 40 Year Old Tawny Port is a deeply complex and elegant fortified wine, showing a brilliant amber-brown hue with golden reflections. The nose is intensely aromatic, offering layers of dried figs, toasted almonds, orange peel, vanilla, and aged oak. …
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Price: £89.95
Stock: Out of Stock
Charles Lafitte Champagne, 1985
Orgueil de France, Vintage Champagne
Charles Lafitte Orgueil de France 1985
Vintage & Background
1985 was a solid vintage for Champagne, producing wines that could deliver both primary fruit and age. Charles Lafitte is a house known for accessible, charming Champagnes, and “Orgueil de France” appears to be one of their more ambitious vintage bottlings. This particular bottle has been offered by auction houses and specialist shops, indicating that some well-stored examples have survived in reasonable condition.
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Vins et Millésimes
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Appearance & Nose
In the glass, the colour is reported as soft yellow to warm golden amber, with some sunset hues—yellow-orange tones—that suggest age and gentle evolution. …
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Price: £185.00
Stock: Out of Stock
Chianti, 1985
Castegreve
1985 Chianti, Castegreve
Tuscany, Italy
The 1985 Chianti from Castegreve offers a beautiful snapshot of classic Tuscan winemaking in one of the most celebrated vintages of the decade. Produced from the hills surrounding Greve in Chianti — a zone long admired for its balance of ripeness and freshness — this wine reflects the traditional Sangiovese style that defined the region before the modern renaissance of the 1990s.
In the glass, it shows a mature ruby-garnet colour with amber reflections. The bouquet is inviting and layered, revealing dried cherry, cedar, and sweet herbs, followed by subtle tones of leather, balsamic spice, and tobacco leaf. …
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Price: £79.95
Stock: Out of Stock
Chianti, 1985
Rocca della Macie - Riserva
1985 Rocca delle Macìe, Chianti Riserva – Tuscany, Italy
A fine, mature example from one of Tuscany’s most established estates, this 1985 Chianti Riserva from Rocca delle Macìe captures the charm and balance of one of the region’s best vintages of the 1980s. Founded in 1973 by film producer Italo Zingarelli, Rocca delle Macìe quickly earned a reputation for producing expressive, classically styled Chianti wines that balance rustic authenticity with refined winemaking.
Composed primarily of Sangiovese, with small portions of Canaiolo and Colorino, the wine was aged in traditional Slavonian oak before long bottle rest. …
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Price: £69.00
Stock: Out of Stock
Chianti, 1985
Monteriggione
1985 Monteriggioni, Chianti – Tuscany, Italy
A traditional Chianti from the excellent 1985 vintage, produced under the historic Monteriggioni label — named after the medieval walled town in the heart of Tuscany, near Siena. Wines from this period were typically crafted from Sangiovese with small additions of Canaiolo and local white grapes, then matured in large Slavonian oak casks to soften the tannins and develop complexity.
Now nearly forty years old, it displays a brick-red colour with garnet reflections, showing its age with elegance. The nose is warm and mellow, revealing notes of dried cherry, leather, spice, and cedar, along with hints of tobacco leaf, earth, and balsamic herbs. …
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Price: £79.95
Stock: Out of Stock
Croft Port, 1985
Vintage Port
The 1985 Croft Vintage Port is another excellent example of Croft’s long-standing reputation for producing high-quality Port. The 1985 vintage was widely declared across the Douro Valley, marking it as a year of exceptional wines. Croft's 1985 Vintage Port is particularly noted for its opulent fruit, richness, and balance, with great potential for long aging.
Key Characteristics:
Color: Still a deep ruby or garnet, though starting to show hints of tawny at the rim due to age.
Nose: Aromas of ripe blackberries, plums, and cherries, complemented by secondary notes of spices, chocolate, dried fruits, and a touch of floral elegance. …
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Price: £89.95
Stock: Out of Stock
Gigondas, 1985
Gour de Chaule
This distinguished 1985 Gigondas from Domaine du Gour de Chaulé is a fine example of a traditional, family-run Southern Rhône estate. Known for its artisanal approach and old-vine Grenache, the domaine produces structured, soulful wines that age with grace. The 1985 vintage, one of the finest of the decade in the Rhône Valley, gave wines of balance, ripe fruit, and longevity—qualities that still shine nearly forty years on.
Tasting Notes
Brick-red with an amber rim, this mature Gigondas opens with complex aromas of dried cherries, figs, garrigue herbs, and leather, laced with notes of cedar, spice, and truffle. …
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Price: £59.95
Stock: Out of Stock
Principesco, 1985
Giuseppe Fanetti
1985 Giuseppe Fanetti, Principesco – Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Tuscany
A distinguished Vino Nobile di Montepulciano from the celebrated 1985 vintage, produced by Giuseppe Fanetti, one of the pioneering figures of Montepulciano’s modern winemaking era. Fanetti was instrumental in restoring the prestige of Vino Nobile during the 20th century, crafting wines of depth and elegance from the region’s prized Prugnolo Gentile (Sangiovese) vines.
The Principesco 1985 reflects a warm, generous vintage that yielded ripe fruit and long-lived wines. In the glass, it shows a garnet core with tawny highlights, typical of mature Tuscan reds. …
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Price: £59.95
Stock: Out of Stock