Bordeaux producers aren’t looking forward to the release of the 2021 wines. Widespread frost in the spring killed a lot of buds. The French government has forecasted the harvest to be among the smallest in the last 50 years. Comparisons are being drawn to the 1977 vintage, which was about the time I started buying French wines. The deals were great then and many producers managed to produce decent, albeit not great, wines. I remember the 1977 Chateau Beychevelle, for instance.

The 1961 harvest got off to a similar start and turned out to be one of the more remarkable wines of the century. Yield was low in the vineyards but the grapes were intense and the few wines made were long-lived. How the 2021 vintage fares remains to be seen. Just add wine to the woes of the year.