A great vintage is a matter of place. The year that made Champagne may have been ordinary in Bordeaux; the year that gave Burgundy its longest-lived reds may have been hard in the Rhône. So the choice is made region by region: for each one, the years that the trade and the critics have recognised as great over time, not the years praised at release and forgotten since. We make that choice ourselves, wine by wine.

The page cuts across the cellar. It brings together Champagne from the houses and growers, red and white Burgundy from village to grand cru, Bordeaux from both banks and the Rhône and, when the year earns it, bottles from elsewhere. Because the year is the only criterion, the same page can hold a Sauternes, a Chablis and a Côte-Rôtie side by side.

A great year does not mean a wine ready to drink. Many of these bottles are built to age, and some of the oldest have already done so. For wines chosen by their age rather than by their year, see the mature wines, between five and fifteen years old, and the collector wines, fifteen years and more.

The wines above are the current selection. To follow a single year across the cellar, use the vintage page.