Twenty Years On: The 1992 Vintage
While my twenty-year on tastings – events which I readily confess are far more about my own pleasure than a useful assessment of any one region, appellation or domaine – have become a reasonably regular feature on Winedoctor, I think it is also fair to say that they are not essential annual updates. Indeed, there was a period of time – four years when I should have been looking at the 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987 vintages – when the reports were altogether absent from my annual schedule. And when they did return, with the 1988 vintage, it was only with a handful of wines.
Since then I have managed to cobble together interesting tastings, taking in wines from the likes of Huet, Coutet, Marqués de Murrieta, Bollinger, Château de Fesles, Léon Beyer, Pichon-Lalande, Argiano, Hugel and López de Heredia to name just a few. As you can see, Bordeaux and the Loire are generally well represented, but other regions get a look in as well. More often than not it is all about what bottles I have in the cellar. Indeed, tastings like these give me a good excuse to pull these older bottles.
Nevertheless, 1992 is not a vintage that is strongly represented in my cellar. There is no Bordeaux (not something I intend to lose any sleep over), and very little from the Loire. In fact, the number of bottles available were just four, hardly enough for a decent tasting. Nevertheless, despite this poor showing, I have decided to write up the four wines here, if for no other reason than sense of tradition! It is one I should keep going, especially as I know from the 1994 vintage onwards I will be spoilt for choice.
