Our view on the 1975 vintage
Bordeaux awaited its good year after 3 difficult vintages, and even if the quantity of grapes in 1975 was moderate, a triumphal welcome was therefore given to the 1975 vintage. However, large disparities led to some hardened, tannic and dried wines where others in Pomerol, Pessac Leognan, Saint Julien, and Pauillac were superbly successful (1975 Chateau Haut Brion, 1975 Chateau la Mission Haut Brion, 1975 Chateau Petrus, 1975 Chateau Evangile, 1975 Chateau Lafleur, 1975 Chateau Lafite Rothschild, 1975 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, 1975 Chateau Latour, 1975 Chateau Gruaud Larose …). Some red Bordeaux wines have taken 25 years to be accessible, you had to have the patience and the will to be able to wait for them. Other wines with less fruitiness remained tannic and unbalanced. On the white wines of Bordeaux and more specifically the wines of Sauternes, the 1975 Chateau Yquem is magnificent, and the 1975 Chateau Climens, 1975 Chateau Coutet, 1975 Chateau De Fargues and 1975 Chateau Rieussec are very good. The Burgundy region did not have this chance, and the 1975 vintage should be considered rather weak in Burgundy red as white Burgundy . The 1975 vintage Champagne can still offer a vinous, ripe and complex profile, and also had great aging potential. No wine stood out particularly in Rhone and Alsace in 1975.