1989 Rhone

A very good year for northern Rhône reds and a great one for southern Rhône wines. In the north the summer was the summer was hot and dry with drought-like weather affecting the vine sin mid August. There was some welcome rain on the 10th September in Hermitage and Cote Rôtie and the harvest began around the 15th making one of the earliest harvests in living memory. The wines are round and opulent, with great texture and backbone and the best examples have aged magnificently. Overall they are superior to the 1988s but probably fall short of the dense and powerful 1990s.

In the southern Rhône the summer was even hotter and drier - it barely rain after May and harvesting in Châteauneuf du Pape began very on the 5th September. An average sized crop of intensely concentrated, lush, ripe and powerful wines was produced and the best wines have now entered their plateaux of maturity but still have a long life ahead of them. The best vintage of the decade and the wines are superior to those from the much-lauded 1990.