Twenty Years On: The 1990 Vintage
This tasting marks something of a milestone for Winedoctor, which celebrated its 10th birthday this year, because this is the first opportunity for me to taste and write on wines at twenty years which I have already featured at ten years of age. The 1990 vintage was featured at ten years on Winedoctor back in December 2000, with a tasting which looked at an eclectic selection of exalted wines from the likes of Armand Rousseau, Beaucastel, Aubuisières, Champalou, Antinori, Ridge Vineyards and of course many others. So this tasting, at twenty years of age, could perhaps be regarded as an another-ten-years-on tasting, an opportunity to revisit these wines to see how the second decade of peaceful slumber in the cellar has influenced their development.
If I had any of them, that is. And I don’t.
So instead this tasting looks at a smaller selection of wines, generally taking in the same styles and appellations, but not quite the same estates. The Loire Valley is heavily represented, and although I don’t have Champalou and Aubuisières this time I do have Roulerie (above left), Fesles (above right) and Bellerive, suggesting more of a focus on the vineyards of Anjou than Vouvray, but I have also included four wines from Prince Poniatowski to redress the balance. There is no Beaucastel I am sorry to say, but perhaps Clos des Papes will do in its place, and although there is no Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage or Cornas from Albert Belle, Graillot or Clape this time, we do have the Bessards cuvée from Delas, which should more than make up for this. And for the sweet-toothed taster ruing the absence of Doisy-Dubroca, which brought a close to my look at 1990 ten years ago, surely no fan of Sauternes could fail to be assuaged by the presence of Lafaurie-Peyraguey? Especially as it turned out to be such a stunning wine on the night.
I have arranged my notes by region rather than the order of tasting, which went from white to red to sweet, stating first with the French appellations before moving on to look at the wines of other countries. This is true of all the wines except for the Pichon-Lalande which made an appearance alongside a slab of roast beef the following weekend and which I have included here. (21/12/10)
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