I just found this 1939 Vintages chart in a magazine. Very cool. But not what I expected. Nobody rates wines anymore on a scale of 0-7 but don’t be surprised if I start to. Also, presumably these were the top wine regions of the world in 1939. Interesting. I didn’t even know one of them without using Al Gore’s “Internet” (the words Internet and Al Gore are used with permission) to look it up.
Most of these wines should be familiar. Port , Burgundy, Sauternes, and Champagne are still the commonly used names for wines from their respective regions. Claret is the British word for Bordeaux. The winner of golf’s British Open wins the Claret Jug – which is an actual wine jug made of silver and glass – and considering the Brits fondness for Claret probably gets used quite a bit for that purpose. Rhenish wines are dry white wines from the Rhine river valley in Germany. These aren’t easy to find on the shelves where I live. It’s interesting to me that my favorite regions, the Rhône and Rioja, aren’t on the list. That tells me that wine recognition and popularity changes. There was a time when the sweet Malaga wine was considered the world’s best. Now you probably can’t get it outside of Andalucia. I wonder what the world of wine will look like in 80 years time? Meanwhile, I need to get my short game in order if I am to win the British Open and drink from the Claret Jug.
The Claret Jug - roll your putts and fill it with your best Bordeaux
Pull the cork 