WINE
1989 bordeaux and others
IT DOES not do to praise anyone, or anything, too extravagantly when they are very young. We all know the disastrous results which follow from the overpraising of a gifted child. Wines are not quite like children but they do have a number of things in common with them. You cannot spoil a wine by overpraising it, but its future development may be as uncertain as a child's. What you can do with wine, and what the Bordelais have been doing over the last decade, is to hike up prices by precocious praise. Never has this process been so nakedly apparent as with the 1989 clarets. Levels of hype in this vintage are the highest ever recorded, surpassing even those of 1982. Not only has there been a greater quantity of hype, but the hype started earlier than ever — well before the grapes were picked, in the earliest harvest since 1893. Of course it is understandable to be excited about exceptionally ripe and healthy grapes, but talk of the vintage of the century (again) is irresponsible. It is tedious to go on repeating the same refrain about fickle vintage development (how many people have enjoyed the 1975s?), but any honest person in Bordeaux will admit that vertical variation (within a single, supposedly good, vintage) can be more significant than horizontal variation (across different vintages). So, 1983 produced some exceptional wines in Margaux but some very ordinary ones in St Estephe.
The year 1989, as far as one can general- ise at this stage, is rather the opposite. In this very dry year, St Estephe, with its heavier, more retentive soil, seems to have performed very consistently, whereas there are a number of chateaux in Margaux (well-drained soil) which lack structure and definition.
Price rises, given the early and intensive hype, were 'inevitable'. Was it necessary for the first growths to go up from around £330 a case in 1988 (a fine vintage in danger of being underrated) to around £500 a case, with Lafite, from some mer- chants, costing £600? Does anyone care? As Charles Lea of Lea & Sandeman put it to me, The sort of people who buy first-growths do not give a **" whether they cost £300 or £500.' These prices do not include duty, shipping or VAT.
In terms of value for money, my advice is to forget about first-growths and most super-seconds. Leoville-Barton made a very promising, ripe but structured wine, in 1989, and Anthony Barton (to his subsequent regret, he is honest enough to admit) charged a reasonable price for it, around £130. I have bought a case, but when I tasted Langoa-Barton alongside, I was so impressed with its opulent fruit and charm that I considered swapping (Langoa is £15 a case cheaper). Another wine, which I have not tasted, but am prepared to back on superb recent form and unani- mously good reports, is the graves, Château de Fieuzal (c. £120 a case). Among crus bourgeois, Chateau Cissac (c. £70 a case), which can be excessively tough and tannic, stood out in this hot year with depth and structure and ripeness.
How about looking at 1989 in other regions which do not suffer from price inflation? One of the tastings I look for- ward to most every year, that given by the Grosser Ring of Mosel-Saar-Ruwer VDP estates, took place the other day. It con- firmed that 1989 produced some splendidly concentrated and well-balanced Kabinetts and Spatleses. Those from Egon Muller, Fritz Haag, Maximinhof and Kartauserhof were outstanding (look out for these names on the lists of Alex Findlater and La Vigneronne). The Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Spatlese Trocken 1989 from Max. Ferd. Richter (available from Bibendum, around £8) was even better than the great 1985, rich and ripe with peach fruit, yet dry. Lingenfelder (available from Oddbins) in the Rheinpfalz has made a marvellous dry riesling 1989 and an even better, full-bodied, grapefruity scheurebe.
For good value reds in 1989, one obvious choice is the beaujolais crus, persistently underrated because of the region's low- grade image. Try wines like the Brouilly Andre Large (£5.85) or Julienas Andre Pelletier (£5.75) from the Winecellars (153-5 Wandsworth High Street) offer of wines from the Eventail group of indepen- dent producers, or contact David Pepper- corn and Serena Sutcliffe (071 224 2403) for other stockists.
And 1989 claret offers are available from practically every known wine merchant the Wine Society, Hungerford Wine Com- pany (never knowingly undersold, they claim), Haynes, Hanson & Clark and Lay & Wheeler are among the best-priced.
Harry Eyres
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