From 2003 ( the year where we saw extraordinarily high summer temperatures ) have a look out for : ( i ) Bordeaux – despite the searing heat , leading to some lack of consistency , the wines from both the Medoc and Graves can be fabulous ; ( ii ) port – a classic year for port ; excellent wines with wonderful fruit ; ( iii ) wines from the Northern Rhône valley – some tremendous heat wave wines were produced ; here keep an eye out for some exceedingly good wines from Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage ; ( iv ) again , the sweet wines from Sauternes feature – another decent year with remarkably fresh wines ; ( v ) Hungary – an outstanding vintage in Tokaji .
A 20 year anniversary wine ( 2001 ) The year 2001 : ( i ) was the year of the 9 / 11 terror attacks in the US ; ( ii ) was the year that Donald Campbell ’ s speedboat , Bluebird , was finally recovered from the depths of Lake Coniston in Cumbria ; ( iii ) was the year that Hollywood ’ s golden couple , Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman , were divorced ; ( iv ) was the year that Labour Deputy Prime Minister , John Prescott , punched a protester who threw an egg at him during a visit to Rhyl in North Wales .
From 2001 look out for : ( i ) wines from Piedmont in Italy – with both Barolo and Barbaresco you will find consistently outstanding wines with great structure and balance ; ( ii ) wines from the Southern Rhône – in particular the stunning , ripe and beautifully balanced wines from Châteauneuf-du-Pape ; ( iii ) wines from Germany – one of the country ’ s finest ever vintages led to the production of beautifully pure wines ; in particular look out for Riesling from the Rheinhessen and Mosel wine regions ; ( iv ) from further afield look out for wines from the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale in Southern Australia and for some of the cabernet sauvignons from the North Coast in California ; ( v ) again the sweet wines from Sauternes appear on this list – this was a very great , perhaps one of the greatest , vintages in this region ; wonderfully complex and aromatic wines ; ( vi ) Spain – the 2001 vintage in Rioja was outstanding ; classic , beautifully balanced wines .
A 21st birthday wine ( 2000 ) The year 2000 : ( i ) was the year that the world celebrated the New Millennium ; ( ii ) the year that rower Sir Steven Redgrave won his fifth Olympic gold medal in the coxless fours at the Sydney Olympics ; ( iii ) was the year that serial killer Harold Shipman was sentenced to life in prison ; ( iv ) was the year that Queen Elizabeth , the Queen Mother , celebrated her 100th birthday . From 2000 : ( i ) start with the wines from Bordeaux – one of the most outstanding vintages of recent times for the whole region ( including the wines from St Julien , Paulliac , St Estephe , Graves , Pessac Leognan , St Emilion and Pomerol ); ( ii ) from the Southern Rhône valley - the wines from Châteauneuf-du-Pape are also , again , outstanding ; ( iii ) again the wines from Piedmont in Italy are worth a look too ; ripe and a little jammy , but the best Barolo ’ s and Barbaresco ’ s are very good .
A 25 year ‘ silver ’ wedding anniversary wine ( 1996 ) The year 1996 : ( i ) was the year of explosions – the IRA bomb in Manchester , the bombing at the Atlanta Olympics and the bombing of a London bus on the Aldwych near the Strand ; ( ii ) was the year of the massacre in the Dunblane school gym ; ( iii ) the year in which the world was introduced to Helen Fielding ’ s international bestseller ' Bridget Jones ' s Diary '; ( iv ) the year that the world bade farewell to American Jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald . From 1996 : ( i ) start with Champagne – described by some as an ‘ insane ’ vintage ; a wonderful vintage with huge aging potential ; ( ii ) Italy – again head to Piedmont ; again the Barolo ’ s and , particularly , the Barbaresco ’ s are outstanding ; ( iii ) Bordeaux – again a vintage that saw the production of many exceptional wines from the Medoc region .
A 30 year anniversary or birthday wine ( 1991 ) The year 1991 : ( i ) was the year that the world lost the legend that was Freddie Mercury at the age of 45 ; ( ii ) was the year that saw astronaut Helen Sharman , at the age of 27 , becoming the first Briton in space ; ( iii ) was the year that Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as the Soviet Union broke up ; ( iv ) was the year that publisher Robert Maxwell died at sea . The 1991 vintage , worldwide , was not particularly great yet , as always , there are many decent wines to find : ( i ) the Northern
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