The 1984 grape-growing year in Bordeaux sounds like something from a dystopian novel by George Orwell.
Cold, dry weather in February, March, and May; a sunny April, June, July, and August that caused the grapes to ripen slowly and unevenly (because of the sudden changes of temperature); cold and wet weather in September; and then Hurricane Hortense uprooted trees and caused widespread power failures in early October.
Finally, the sun came out when the Mouton Rothschild vineyards were harvested from 5th to 12th October – after Hortense had passed (unlike some of Mouton’s Bordeaux neighbours), and temperatures reached 32°C.
The final Orwellian twist to our vinous version of Nineteen Eighty-Four was the release price of Mouton and other wines, which was twice as high as the superior 1982s.
Nowadays, Mouton 1982 is four-times as much as 1984…
The Merlot grapes in the Médoc were mostly unusable in 1984 but this was not really an issue for Mouton, where very little Merlot goes into the finished Cabernet Sauvignon-focused wine.
On that basis, it might be the best red wine of this tricky Bordeaux vintage.
The 1984 Mouton label was by the now 95-years old Yaacov Agam.
His work is often brightly-coloured, abstract, and makes use of light and sound – which is why he was the ideal choice to design the 1999 Eurovision Song Contest trophy, won by Charlotte Nilsson of Sweden… 🎶 🏆
