Terre de Vins; Best Old Vintage Awards

1988, 1989, 1990, Terre de Vins
March 13, 2024

Champagne Club

On-line magazine Terre de Vins set-up a tasting of the legendary trilogy 1988, 1989, 1990, tasted at Royal Champagne through a sampling of 35 houses. [read the full champagne story]

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

It was in a relaxed atmosphere that the Best Old Vintage Awards were held on February 11. Just imagine, the legendary trilogy 1988, 1989, 1990, tasted at Royal Champagne through a sampling of 35 houses, cooperatives and the most renowned winegrowers of the appellation. The treasure has been entrusted to the care of the greatest international journalists specializing in the bubble. Never seen ! While waiting to give you the top 3 best vintages on May 23, Terre de vins is already revealing the 20 winners selected by the jury.

Why do 1988, 1989, and 1990 form a legendary trilogy? Because given the northern climate of the appellation, until now we had never seen three quality vintages in quick succession. This is the reason why we use reserve wines in bruts without a year and why cellar managers usually cannot systematically vintage. In fact, the only other known example is the 2018, 2019 and 2020 trilogy, but it’s still a little early to fully judge its full potential.

If 1988, 1989 and 1990 constitute a trilogy of great vintages, each one has a very specific identity. A little history… What characterized the climate of 1988 was inconsistency, with a mild winter followed by spring frosts, a rainy May and a dry start to summer. before becoming stormy. Gray rot was monitored with anxiety, which fortunately did not spread. With 9.2 degrees of potential alcohol, at the time, due to the usual rather cold climate, we considered this level of sugar suitable, while the 9.4 grams of acidity were the promise of great freshness. .

1989 also surprised the winegrowers. The spring frosts had caused such damage that the quantitative forecasts were pessimistic. However, the ideal and very warm conditions that followed brought back the vines to produce a beautiful harvest, both in quality and quantity. The picking began early on September 2, and ended at the beginning of November, the reinvigorated frozen vines having flowered much later. The August sun then the Indian summer gave a very high potential alcohol content, sometimes reaching 12 degrees. The acidity, however, was lower (7.1 g). Between the two, 1990 seems to be the synthesis of 1989 and 1988, with both a high potential alcohol content (11.1%) and a nice acidity (8 g).

The jury

The jury was chaired by Tyson Stelzer, author of a Champagne Guide which is a reference in Australia.

Tom Hewson, member of Decanter’s team of expert editors
Yuri Shima Japanese specialist
the Swede Andreas Larsson, Best Sommelier in the World 2007
Essi Avellan, Finnish Master of Wine, author of the World Encyclopedia of Champagne
Jeannie Cho-Lee, also Master of Wine, contributor to Wine Spectator
the Italian Alberto Lupetti, author of the Guide Grande Champagne
Peter Liem, tasting director of Wine & Spirits magazine
David Morin, best wine merchant in France
Sylvie Tonnaire, editorial director of Terre de vins
Yves Tesson, deputy editor-in-chief.

[read the full champagne story @ Terre de Vins]