1990 Ten Years On

Not only is there something special about waiting for a decade to drink a bottle of wine, but it’s a helluva lot more special when the vintage in question is 1990. 1990 was an extraordinary year in Australia and as a result, entire flotillas of wine enthusiasts have been waiting for this moment.

In case you’ve forgotten, it was a long, hot summer. From Margaret River to Moonambel grapes ripened to their maximum potential of flavour. Ten years before much the same had happened in 1980, but with the over-interventionist winemaking practices of the day, little was made in the way of great wine. Ten years later and there’s a danger that the promising 2000 vintage could equally be wasted, as growers allow vineyards to over-ripen in their endless search for yet more punch and fruit. In 1990, however, Australia’s vineyards produced one of their best crops of all time and its winemakers rose admirably to the challenge.

It’s little wonder that given the warmth of the season that the story of 1990’s wines is all about ripe, accentuated fruit flavour, and plenty of it. Its reds are dark, vibrant and deeply concentrated; its whites rich, fleshy and sumptuous. So, given that richness and balance tend to equate to longevity in red wine, but tend to make white wines develop that little more quickly, it’s fair to suggest that the best of the 1990 reds still have plenty of legs left in them, while the pick of the whites are at, if not approaching their peak.

Drinking superbly right now are some of the finer Yarra Valley cabernets, especially those from Diamond Valley, Mount Mary, Yarra Yarra, Wantirna Estate, Yarra Yering and Yeringberg, although each of these wines still has plenty of development ahead.

The pick of the Coonawarra cabernets are just hitting their straps. They’re substantially richer and fuller than unusual, and certainly represent a step up in weight from the Yarra wines. I’d suggest the exceptional Parker Terra Rossa First Growth, the Petaluma Coonawarra blend, the Hardys Thomas Hardy Cabernet Sauvignon, Wynns Cabernet Sauvignon the black label, Mildara Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon the white label, and the two Orlando reds, the St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon and the finer, more elegant Jacaranda Ridge.

Other great cabernets from 1990 include those of Moss Wood which also made a stellar ‘Reserve’ wine in this vintage, Henschke Abbotts Prayer, Cape Clairault and Cullens Reserve. Like the Grange from the same year, Penfolds’ Bin 707 is deep and brooding, still many years short of its time. It’s still big and bruising and to drink it would be premature, but Henschke’s Hill of Grace was little short of exceptional in 1990, as are other shirazes like Grant Burge’s Meshach, Yalumba’s The Octavius, Jasper Hill’s pair of Georgia’s Paddock and Emily’s Paddock and Jim Barry’s Armagh. Given that it appears in auction quite regularly, Penfold’s St Henri is one great red from 1990 that you should be able to locate and enjoy from beginning to end in 2000.

It wasn’t a classic year for riesling, but the Clare Valley wines from Petaluma, Grosset Watervale, Mitchell and Skillogalee, plus the Pewsey Vale Riesling from Eden Valley have evolved into generous, rich wines with classic toasty development and character. They’re at their peak around now.

Only the very best 1990 chardonnays will have stood the test of time until now, but they are very much alive and well. My pick from this vintage includes those from Cullen, Mountadam, Giaconda, Yeringberg, Bannockburn, Dalwhinnie, Massoni, Moss Wood, Pierro and Cape Mentelle. Please login to post comment