1986 Wine and Port Vintage
Vintage Summary and Recommendations:
1986 Wine – 40 Year Old Anniversary Wines
Welcome to Vintage Wine & Port’s 1986 wine collection. Now entering peak maturity, the best wines from this vintage offer beautifully developed flavours, softened tannins and the complexity that comes with four decades of careful ageing. These characteristics make 1986 wines an excellent choice for a 40th anniversary or milestone birthday gift.
In key regions such as Portugal and Bordeaux, well-made wines from 1986 have matured gracefully, with Port in particular offering rich, ready-to-drink styles and Bordeaux showing classic structure and balance. Our selection focuses on bottles from trusted producers and well-stored cellars, ensuring each wine is drinking well today.
Our Recommended Wines from 1986
Scroll down to explore our full selection. If you would like personal advice, please call us on 01425 837177 or contact us — we would be delighted to help you choose the perfect bottle.
Top Recommendation: Kopke 1986 Colheita Port
A beautifully mature single harvest tawny Port offering exceptional balance, depth and drinkability. Fully aged and ready to enjoy now, making it the most reliable choice for a 40th anniversary gift.
Best Value: Rivesaltes 1986 L’Archiviste
A wonderfully mature fortified wine offering outstanding value, with rich flavours of dried fruits, caramel and spice developed through long ageing.
Premium White Port: Quevedo 1986 White Port
A rare and distinctive aged white Port with rich, honeyed complexity and remarkable depth. A unique and memorable gift option.
Classic Portuguese Red: Porta dos Cavaleiros 1986 (Dão)
A mature Portuguese red with soft tannins and developed character, offering a different expression of the vintage while remaining ready to drink.
Fine & Rare Bordeaux: Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 1986
A refined Pauillac Second Growth Bordeaux showing elegant structure, cedar and dark fruit notes
This Year in History: Fun Fact: Halley’s Comet appeared in the night sky, as it also did back in 1682, 1758, 1835, and 1910. Halley’s Comet orbits the sun every 75-76 years, and will not be seen again until 2062.
Eurovision Winner: Belgium with the song "J'aime La Vie" by Sandra Kim
Top Grossing Movie: Top Gun
Bordeaux: 1986 was a strong vintage in the northern Médoc, particularly in Pauillac and St Julien, producing structured wines that have now reached full maturity and are drinking well.
Read full Bordeaux vintage report
1986 was a great vintage for the wines produced in the northern part of Bordeaux (St Julien, Pauillac), where many estates produced deep, concentrated wines built for long ageing. What defines the 1986 vintage is its firm tannic structure, derived from well-ripened grapes that remained on the vine for extended periods before harvest. Now fully mature, these wines have softened and developed complexity, while retaining their classic character. Drinking well today, they make an excellent 40 year old wine gift for a birthday, anniversary or special celebration.
Italian: 1986 was a very good year for Italian wines, with consistent quality across key regions and some particularly fine Barolos from Piedmont. Now fully mature, these wines show developed character, softened tannins and layered complexity, and are drinking well today while still capable of ageing further.
Read full Italian vintage report
The wines produced in 1986 are generally well-balanced and have evolved gracefully over time. In Piedmont, Barolo from this vintage is especially noteworthy, offering structure, depth and classic ageing potential, with flavours of dried cherry, leather, spice and earthy notes emerging with age. Other regions also produced reliable wines, though Piedmont remains the standout. Now at full maturity, these wines display harmony and complexity, making them ideal for drinking today while still holding for a few more years.
Portugal: 1986 was a good year in Portugal, producing forward, fruit-driven Single Quinta Vintage Ports that have now reached full maturity and are drinking well. With no general declaration, wines from this year are relatively scarce, adding to their appeal as distinctive and increasingly rare bottles.
Read full Portugal vintage report
The Ports from 1986 are typically approachable and well-balanced, showing developed flavours of dried fruit, caramel and spice. Now at their peak, these wines offer immediate enjoyment without the need for further ageing. Tawny and Single Harvest (Colheita) Ports are particularly strong choices from this vintage, benefiting from extended cask ageing which enhances their smoothness, complexity and consistency. These styles offer a reliable and rewarding alternative to Vintage Port, making them ideal for a 40th birthday or anniversary gift.
31 products found.
Chateau Monbrison, 1986
Margaux Cru Bourgeois
Château Monbrison 1986, Margaux Cru Bourgeois
A classic mature Margaux from a structured vintage, now showing the refined, secondary character that develops with extended bottle age. The colour has evolved to a deep garnet with brick hues at the rim, signalling full maturity.
The nose is elegant and complex, opening with aromas of dried blackcurrant and plum, layered with cedar, tobacco and leather. With time in the glass, more subtle notes emerge — pencil shavings, earthy spice and a gentle floral lift typical of Margaux.
On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied and well resolved, with softened tannins and a harmonious structure. …
more >>>
Price: £89.00
Stock: Out of Stock
Chateau Suduiraut, 1986
Premier Cru Classé, Sauternes Sweet white wine
1986 Château Suduiraut hails from one of Sauternes' most renowned Premier Cru Classé estates, nestled next to Château d’Yquem in the commune of Preignac. Known for its meticulous vineyard management and traditional vinification techniques, Suduiraut crafts wines dominated by Sémillon, blended with a touch of Sauvignon Blanc. The château’s wines typically display opulence, structure, and longevity—often showing vivid botrytis character thanks to the ideal misty autumn conditions near the Garonne and Ciron rivers. By the mid-1980s, Suduiraut was producing wines with a more classic, less opulent style than later decades, reflecting both the vintage and the winemaking direction at the time. …
more >>>
Price: £99.00
Stock: Out of Stock
Dow's
40 Year Old Tawny Port ***92 Points- Wine Enthusiast***
Dows 40 Year Old Tawny Port A beautiful translucent amber-golden colour and an almost transparent rim with exquisite fragrances of delicate dry fruit coupled with a hint of fine marmalade. A luxuriously silk-like palate with polished elegance and notes of fruit preserves. The complex, long and slightly dry finish reveals nutty praline notes ending with a tea leaf flourish
Dow’s Port is one of the most famous names in the Port trade and today is owned and managed by the fifth generation of the Symington family. The family, whose experience dates back over 100 years, supervises all the vineyards, winemaking and ageing of this wine. …
more >>>
Price: £139.00
Stock: Out of Stock
Fonseca Port, 1986
Guimaraens Vintage Port
In undeclared vintages Fonseca bottle Guimaraens, provided the quality of the fruit is sufficient. This has a good depth of colour, with a moderate red-tawny hue. The nose has exotic notes of musky scent and spiced woods, together with some chocolate edged fruit. The palate has an impressive texture and sweetness immediately apparent on entry. Good fruit and a nice backbone of soft tannins. Elegant, with a touch of complexity, with balance, very much in the house style.
Learn more about Fonseca
more >>>
Price: £149.00
Stock: Out of Stock
Gigondas, 1986
Domaine du Cayron, Michel Faraud
This rare 1986 Gigondas from Domaine du Cayron, crafted by Michel Faraud, is a fine example of old-vine Southern Rhône winemaking. Domaine du Cayron, a historic family estate, is renowned for producing traditional, age-worthy Gigondas wines from Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, and Mourvèdre grown on limestone and clay soils at the foot of the Dentelles de Montmirail.
Tasting Notes
Brick-garnet in colour with a tawny rim, this 1986 Gigondas opens with evolved aromas of dried red berries, leather, garrigue herbs, and cedar, alongside earthy notes of truffle and tobacco. The palate is medium-bodied, showing resolved tannins and flavours of dried cherry, spice, and savoury game. …
more >>>
Price: £69.95
Stock: Out of Stock
Graham's
40 Year Old Tawny Port- New Edition
Decanter (DWWA 2025) Gold
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. …
more >>>
Price: £179.00
Stock: Out of Stock