The harvest lasted almost a month, as the Cabernets ripened much later than the Merlot. We even interrupted the picking for 10 days at the end of September to let the Cabernet finish ripening. Luck was on our side, as the weather was exceptionally good. 1990 was the third in a run of very fine vintages, with 1988 and 1989. After the classic 1988 and the rich, opulent 1989, the 1990 immediately caused great excitement with its charm and great finesse. It is hard to believe that two years with quite similar vine growing conditions produced two wines with such different characteristics! But maybe these conditions were not as similar as they appeared. Who knows what influence a few days’ heatwave may have, or what an apparently unwelcome shower or a lengthy period of drought can do? The wines of the 1990 vintage, whether Merlot, Cabernets or Petit Verdot, were immediately outstandingly attractive, rich and tender, tight-grained but soft, with enticing fruit flavours. Today, all the aromas and flavours already mingle sweetly together into this wine, whose perfect harmony conceals a power comparable with 1989. It is enjoyable now, as it was, in fact, shortly after its bottling. It will surely continue to be so over the next twenty or thirty years. What more can we ask?


(October 2018)