What's in a year?

[mrdutton]

For a very generic answer to your question:

Using my handy reference material - 1990 was generally a very good vintage year all around the world. (Although 1988 and 1989 were better years for Champagne.)

1991 was not, generally, that good of a year because poor weather produced a poor harvest except in some regions like wines from the Beaujolais region, for instance. However some regions of world produced some decent wines in 1991.

1992 and 1993 were generally decent but not as good as 1990.

1994 seemed to be a very good year for California wines.

Most years from 1990 through 1997 were decent for California wines because of the benign weather conditions, although there were some regions of California that were better than others. Unlike the rest of the world, 1991 produced some pretty fine red wines.

Vintage is the term for the grape harvest. Since the grapes are only harvested once a year, the term has come to refer to the wine made from the harvest of a particular year.

Determining a good year or a not so good year is depends very much on the weather. Cold, rainy weather causes problems. Spring frosts and rainy harvests can be devastating.

Any assessment of a vintage is a generalisation - wines from different properites and winemakers will vary. It is also a guess based on experience, past performance and taste. No one can be sure exactly how a wine will develop once it is bottled.

Apart from the weather considerations, the winemakers and those who have been studying and tasting their products for many years give us a great deal of educated appraisals for a particular vintage. That's how we get a general idea about a good or very good or not so good vintage. The bottom line, of course, rests with the individual wine drinker's palate.

Hope that helps a little bit. Maybe someone else here will "pick up the gauntlet" and provide you with some more accurate and specific information than I have. Should I have led you astray on any particular point -we'll both find out [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img] .