Ten Years On: The 1999 Vintage
The 1999 vintage is a slightly awkward one for my annual ten-years-on tasting, principally because this was not an exemplary vintage in either of the two wine regions that I enjoy featuring most, these being the Loire and Bordeaux. Indeed, looking at my profiles of Bordeaux vintages, one of the most conspicuous absentees is 1999. Admittedly, 2002 and 2000 are also missing, but the former will be added during the course of 2010 (and the latter when the wines are a little more approachable). But not so for 1999, a vintage that simply doesn’t feature in my cellar. So other than a lone bottle of Savennières and a few bottles of Sauternes, my 1999 vintage tasting must look beyond these two regions.
Before my notes, a quick review of the vintage, region by region, starting with Bordeaux. As always it is essential to consider the reds and whites separately; of the former, writing in Vintage Wine (Websters, 2002) Michael Broadbent writes “That good grapes could be produced at the end of a growing season like 1999 is little short of a miracle“, so it is perhaps unsurprising that the wines do not feature in my cellar. Like many people, I favour the subsequent vintage when purchasing! The conditions were very favourable for the white wines, however, with an Indian summer and profligate botrytis producing excellent results, with Broadbent describing the year as “the fifth very good Sauternes vintage in a row“. I’m not in agreement with that statement, as I have never really been swayed by the sweet wines of the 1998 and 1996 vintages, but 1999 was certainly of high quality, and Christian Seely (speaking with his Suduiraut hat on) once described it to me as excellent, ranking it alongside other recent great vintages including 1997, 2001 and 2003.
In Burgundy there was success of course, the vintage quickly staking a claim for a place in the pantheon of great vintages alongside the likes of 1989 and 1990. Again turning to Broadbent for an opinion, he was enamoured with the vintage, attributing its success to the warm and dry conditions through August and September, the end result being “A generous quantity….and high quality“. Writing in Burgundy (Faber & Faber, revised second edition, 1999) very soon after the harvest, Anthony Hanson was not so positive, stating his belief that “fruity wines are to be expected….but concentrated flavours will be hard to find“. This declaration does little other than to serve those of us with the benefit of ten years of hindsight as to the dangers of premature vintage declarations; today 1999 is widely admired as one of Burgundy’s great vintages.
