An unusually warm and dry year throughout the Loire Valley produced a large crop of exceptional wines. Winter and spring witnessed extremely mild weather and flowering occurred earlier than normal during the middle of May. The weather was quite cold at the end of June but temperatures picked up later in the month and the weather remained very hot and dry throughout July and August.

The dry whites of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé were powerful but slightly atypical, with their low acidity levels making them suitable for early drinking. Some excellent reds were produced from the Cabernet Franc grape with the best wines still drinking superbly well. 1990 produced late-picked wines of enormous intensity, concentration and sweetness.