THE 1990s VINTAGES

We are no longer used to decades in Bordeaux that contain more misses than hits, but the 1990s had its fair share of difficult harvests. We can pretty much count a full six of the 10 years as having complicated growing seasons – 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997 and 1999 – although some were more difficult than others. That leaves just four standout years – and it was the first, 1990, that won the most universal plaudits.

In the vineyards, change was everywhere. Baron Philippe de Rothschild had died in 1988 and his daughter Baroness Philippine was making serious changes at Château Mouton Rothschild in Pauillac – a new second wine, introduced with the 1993 vintage, was given its name Le Petit Mouton from the following year, and new dry white Aile d’Argent was introduced in 1991. In Pessac-Léognan, Florence and Daniel Cathiard arrived at Château Smith Haut Lafitte in 1990, followed a year later by François Pinualt at Château Latour in Pauillac.

I’ve been lucky enough to taste through a large number of 1990s Bordeaux over the past year. They have been some of the most pleasurable wines of the year, at a perfect moment for drinking now – particularly the 1996, which I would strongly suggest people get out of their cellars, or dig through bin ends in local wine stores, to find what they can.

In fact, I’m not surprised at all to see that it is the 1996 that is right now most traded by both value and volume on global trading platform Liv-ex, as of March 2021. This is followed by the 1998 and the 1995. But that doesn’t mean they were the best investment, and as is often the case, it’s the smaller vintages that have seen the biggest return. According to Liv-ex, the two vintages to have seen the biggest average price rises over the past 20 years (2002 to 2021) are 1994 and 1997, up 472% and 465% respectively.

In comparison, the 1990, which was given the biggest critical reception, has risen ‘only’ 245% – for