A superb decade for Italian wine began with a bang in 1990 with a small crop of outstanding wines being produced. In Piedmont the summer was hot and dry with occasional rain falling just at the right time to give the vines welcome relief. The harvest began 2 weeks earlier than normal and took palace in ideal weather conditions. The wines were ripe, firm and well-structured in youth and have developed marvellously well over the past decade. The finest Barolos and Barbarescos will continue improving for many more years to come. The summer was equally hot in Tuscany and showers in early September proceeded the beginning of the harvest, one of the earliest ever in Tuscany. Yields were low but small bunches of concentrated super ripe grapes were harvested. The wines are powerful, well extracted, with firm tannins and a backbone of fresh acidity. The beast examples have taken some time to open up fully but are have now entered their plateaux of maturity and are drinking very well. They still have many years of life ahead of them.