Burgundy red CdN - 1999/2005/2010
Burgundy red CdB - 1999
Burgundy white - 1989/1996/2014
Bordeaux left bank - 1982
Bordeaux right bank - 1998
N Rhone - 1999
S Rhone - 1998/2001
Sauternes/Barsac - 2001
California Cabernet - 1991/1994
Champagne - 1996
For left bank Bordeaux, argument for 1996 and 2000 and 2005 I think…
2017 for Vintage Port. But will need a long, long time. 2011 is a close second. I’d put 1997 over 1994.
The only issue I have with any of these (not at all an expert on Rhone) is on 1996 white Burgundy. Yes, it seemed like that when they were young, but there were so many premoxed wines.
Looks like I need to try some 2019 German wines… and the 2019 champagnes once their released!
I would put Joseph Phelps 94-97 reg. Cab, Insignia and. Backus up against any other Napa cabs in that time period,
they are still drinking great 25 years in. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
I agree with Brad’s comments re Champagne in 1996. The highs are immensely high, particularly BdB, but there are a few train wrecks with age. They may not necessarily be a result of the conditions, but rather picking and wine making choices.
For me, 1990 in Tuscany. The Sangiovese based wines were just stellar from Panzano to Montalcino.
For Cali cab I thought that 1994-1997, 2012-2016 were great streaks. 2001 & 2002 and likely 2018 & 2019 were great back-to-backs.
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I wasn’t thinking of one region but more globally. But yeah, just look at Italy from 2004 to 2010 where most of the country had great vintages. I can’t think of another string of three or more successive vintages that out performed 88-90. Certainly in Europe with the exception of Spain. The southern hemisphere not so much. More recent vintages, imho, are more ripe with higher alcohols. Not my cup o tea.
I’d argue 2016 belongs in the discussion too. If Burgundy hadn’t had it’s issues, I’d put 2016 right up there with 1990.
1990 was a year you could buy wines from every region in Europe almost blind. 2015/2016 may be years with similar quality but slightly different styles.
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There were some red Burgundies from 1990 that did not live up to their earlier promise as the wine aged. So, I don’t know that this is true. Also, I am not as big a fan of 1990 Bordeaux as some here are. Wines are certainly rich, but I have preferred other vintages of that time period including 1982, 1985, 1986 (sometimes) and 1989. More complexity.
By contrast, I really love 1990 wines from Germany and Alsace.
A question of stylistic preferences. I think there is no better Burgundy than 1990 La Tache and it is hard to find a better Bordeaux than 1990 Cheval Blanc.
I don’t rate a vintage by a few top wines but by wines from the vintage more broadly, at least from better producers. Naming one wine from a region is very different from saying one can buy from the vintage almost blindly.
I’d also go 98 or 01 for Southern Rhone.
On Northern Rhone, didn’t have the chance to taste 91, limited (but great) 99. On the recent vintages, I’m an absolute fan of 2016. 2010 are quite pretty as well.
Agreed and 1990 was outstanding in Australia, also good in most US regions.
Of the more recent vintages I think many winemakers will say 2012-2016 were all very good to excellent. All were drought years.
My favorite Sonoma vintage in general besides 2018 is 2013. Wines are precise, fan out with age or decanting and will be age worthy. Weather was warm (it is California) but never hot with virtually no heat spikes. Allowed for whatever ripeness was desired.
Also in most sub areas yields were good which gave producers the flexibility make the best wines possible
Tom
With respect to Napa Cabs and best vintages - I didn’t really get into wine until about 2000/2001 and honestly my tastes back then were quite different than now. I had opportunity to have 1997s/2001s back then but my palate was pretty inexperienced at that time. Once I had more experience andunderstood wine a little bit better, etc, it was 15+ years from the early 90s so it was hard for me to compare a 1991 that I had in 2006 to what I think of say the 2013/2016/2018 vintages which I tasted soon after their releases. (I am just starting to open a few of my 2013s…)
It also depends on the winery as well. I have found 2011 Napa to be an underrated vintage, and the scorn that vintage received is justified as it was a crappy weather year and there are quite a few bad 2011 wines. With that, it has also produced some of my favorites. I did a vertical tasting of Insignia in late 2019 (tasted 2009 through 2016), and I found that 2011 was my favorite - it just came together so amazingly in the bottle.
This is what makes it hard to rate a vintage. You just never know how it will hold up. I loved 2013s but I am finding that some of the lesser producers are not holding up as a well in bottle as I would have hoped. In my opinion it was a year that required some age to fully appreciate it, but I am finding some wines don’t do well with even 8 years of age.
If I had to say of recent vintages, I have found 2016 to be the best all around vintage for Napa since I started tasting. Part of that is due to more winemakers not following the sins of the late 90s/2000s in trying to make alcohol fruit bombs and it is just such a well balanced year. In my opinion it had the fruit of 2014 with the aging ability of 2013 
Who knows in 20 years when asked this question, I may have a different answer in hindsight.