1957 Wine

1957 Wine

Create an alert

The 1957 vintage is one of renaissance: following the historic frost of February 1956, the French vineyards suffered another severe blow with the April 1957 frosts and a mixed summer. Yields remained very low, but the finest terroirs produced wines of surprising finesse: directness, freshness, aromatic elegance. In Bordeaux, Château Haut-Brion 1957, alongside a rare bottle of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche 1957. A classic vintage, more moving than powerful, ideal for lovers of old wines for ageing; consult our Vintage Guide to place 1957 among the years of its era.

  Read more
Read more
Create an alert
Preparation of your order

Preparation of your order
Bordeaux classified growths available at SoDivin, the specialist in rare and old wines

Bordeaux Classified Growths
Vintage Guide - SoDivin

Vintage Guide

Filter

Regions
Château
Country
Appellation

Products (6)

Filter

Receive our latest arrivals of 1957 Wine directly in your inbox!

Sign up and be the first to hear about new arrivals.

The FAQ

Quelles étaient les conditions climatiques du millésime 1957 ?

Le millésime 1957 a été marqué par une année fraîche et tardive, conséquence directe du gel historique de 1956. Le printemps, froid et sec, a retardé la végétation, tandis que l’été, modéré et changeant, a permis une maturation lente et équilibrée des raisins. Les vendanges tardives, souvent humides à Bordeaux et en Bourgogne, ont donné des vins 1957 fins, légers et très aromatiques. Dans le Rhône, le climat plus sec a produit des vins plus structurés, tandis que les Sauternes 1957 bénéficiaient d’une belle pureté et d’un botrytis modéré.

En résumé, 1957 fut un millésime d’élégance et de fraîcheur, privilégiant la finesse à la puissance, avec un équilibre remarquable entre acidité et maturité.

Pourquoi acheter un vin 1957 ?

Acheter un vin de 1957, c’est posséder un fragment d’histoire. Ce millésime marque la renaissance de la vigne après le gel de 1956 et illustre le savoir-faire des vignerons de l’époque. Ces vins, aujourd’hui rares, sont recherchés pour leur authenticité, leur fraîcheur et leur finesse, parfaits pour célébrer un anniversaire de 1957 ou enrichir une cave de collection. Chez SoDivin, chaque bouteille de vin 1957 bénéficie d’une traçabilité rigoureuse et d’une conservation optimale.

En résumé, 1957 fut un millésime d’élégance et de fraîcheur, privilégiant la finesse à la puissance, avec un équilibre remarquable entre acidité et maturité.

Quels types de vins de 1957 se conservent le mieux ?

Les vins liquoreux et certains vins très structurés sont généralement ceux qui vieillissent le mieux sur de longues périodes. Les grands vins doux naturels ou certains liquoreux issus de terroirs réputés possèdent souvent une longévité remarquable, ce qui leur permet parfois de traverser plusieurs décennies avec élégance.

Vintage 1957: the freshness of a year that reshuffles the cards

The 1957 vintage belongs to those pivotal years when the climate reshuffles the usual hierarchy of regions. The second consecutive cold spell after the catastrophe of 1956, it endured a severe spring frost, a dreary summer and a surge of warmth in October. The harvests, late and meagre, produced tense wines everywhere, marked by high acidity. This signature penalises the lightest reds but accounts for the longevity of the most complete wines. Tasted today, 1957 rewards patience: its finest bottles have gained in complexity what they never promised in power.

Bordeaux 1957 — Tense reds, the revenge of the sweet wines

In Bordeaux, 1957 remains a difficult year for reds. The cold and humidity of the summer, combined with the replanting that followed the frost of 1956, yielded low volumes and wines of modest structure, with lively acidity and sometimes austere substance. The Graves and the finest terroirs of the Médoc fared best, with fine reds showing notes of blonde tobacco, acidic red fruits and undergrowth. The sweet wines, on the other hand, fared considerably better: botrytis, that "noble rot" which concentrates the sugars, progressed sufficiently to yield balanced Sauternes of fine freshness.

Among the most reliable signatures of the vintage, Château La Mission Haut-Brion and Château Lafite Rothschild illustrate the success of the great growths in a tense year, while Latour and Haut-Brion confirm the consistency of the left bank in difficult years. On the sweet wine side, Château d'Yquem and the finest growths of the Sauternais produced wines of delicate texture, with aromas of honey, candied citrus and dried fruits, carried by an acidity that still preserves them.

Burgundy 1957 — The age-worthy pinot of a tense year

In Burgundy, the cool year fared better than in Bordeaux. Pinot noir, a variety at ease in cool climates, found a structuring acidity there that produces upright reds, with a pale colour and an expressive nose of morello cherry, bramble and spice. The palate is tense and salivating, made for the table and for aging rather than power. The whites rank among the successes of the vintage: Meursault, Puligny and Chablis display a crystalline vibrancy, aromas of fresh hazelnut, citrus and wet stone, with a tension that has aged very well.

The great terroirs of the Côte de Nuits dominate the hierarchy of the year. Domaine Armand Rousseau in Gevrey-Chambertin and Domaine Leflaive in Puligny-Montrachet are among the houses whose bottle from this vintage merits the attention of collectors, alongside the greatest names of the Côte. These are wines of finesse and precision, the finest examples of which retain remarkable freshness nearly seven decades on.

Rhône Valley 1957 — The great success of the vintage

The Rhône Valley is undoubtedly the most favoured region of 1957. Its drier, windier climate allowed slow, complete ripening, where northern France struggled to achieve maturity. The wines there are more structured than elsewhere, endowed with firm tannins and a longevity that places them among the most reliable of the era. In the north, the syrahs from granite hillsides offer aromas of black fruits, leather and black olive; in the south, the wines lean towards roundness and a peppery finish. This is the vintage where the Rhône gained the upper hand over more prestigious regions.

The Hermitage of Domaine Jean-Louis Chave, from the hillsides of Tain, embodies this northern success: density, freshness and great aging potential. The finest Côte-Rôtie and the most complete Châteauneuf-du-Pape share this longevity, with certain bottles continuing to impress with their balance. In a contrasted decade, the Rhône 1957 offers one of the most reliable combinations of tasting pleasure and dependability on opening.

Champagne 1957 — The frost, the rarity, the caution

In Champagne, 1957 is a minor year. The spring frost hit the vineyards hard and reduced the harvest to among the lowest volumes of the post-war period. Few houses produced a vintage cuvée that year, making these bottles rare today. The few existing bottles show a lively acidity and a bubble that has become discreet, with an evolved profile of dried fruits, honey, toasted bread and brioche.

These vintage champagnes are above all collector's pieces, to be reserved for lovers of very old bottles and for those whose storage history is beyond reproach. A house like Krug, renowned for the longevity of its wines, is among the rare signatures from which a 1957 can still hold pleasant surprises.

Buy a 1957 wine at SoDivin: the finesse of a year of patience

Choosing a 1957 wine means betting on finesse rather than power, and rediscovering a year in which the Rhône, Burgundy and the sweet wines of the Sauternais took precedence over the red wines of Bordeaux. It is also a fragment of history: the testimony of a wine region which, two years after the catastrophe of 1956, was learning to cope with adversity. To place 1957 among the great and lesser years of its era, rely on the SoDivin Vintage Guide.

Read more