Anson: Comparing St-Emilion 1989 and 1998

Two ‘five star’ vintages that are now 20 and 30 years old respectively. And both saw the best of the weather and the results on the Right Bank.

Scroll down for Jane Anson’s St-Emilion 1989 and 1998 tasting notes

This tasting looked at 10 wines from five Premier Grand Cru Classé estates in St-Emilion, giving a great opportunity to see how the differing limestones, clays and gravels reacted across the two years, and how they have stood the test of time.

Both vintages saw ideal ripening and excellent ageing potential, with 1989 at the time the warmest vintage of the 20th century, sunshine levels equal to 1961 and heat equal to 1947. 1998 in contrast had a hot start, then an April that saw four times more rain than usual, then the sunshine returned throughout the summer, so the Merlot was ripe before rains returned in October that gave the Cabernets a tougher final stretch. St-Emilion had what was almost certainly its best vintage of the 1990s.

Particularly interesting to put these wines under the spotlight, as we know more about the specifics of terroir in St-Emilion than in any other appellation in Bordeaux. This is true for two particular reasons. Most importantly because the classification uses terroir as an element of its decision-making process, along with taste, notoriety and plenty of other things that continue to cause endless fights. In the 2012 ranking, for example, terroir counted for 20% of the final grade for Grand Cru Classé and 30% for Premier Grand Cru Classé.

To submit their candidature, a château has to carry out an inventory of its vineyard holdings, record any modifications and illustrate the different types of terroir. Which brings me to the second reason for the detailed studies of St-Emilion. This focus on soils means that plenty of smart, hard-working terroir specialists have been attracted to the region, none more so than Professor Kees van Leeuwen, who has carried out exhaustive studies that have allowed him to create a number of highly detailed maps.

St-Emilion is essentially made up of three soils types – limestone, clay-limestone and gravel – with a variety of exposures and altitudes that run from the high point of the limestone plateau, at around 100m, down to the Pomerol borders, where things are between 35m and 40m in altitude. There are also parts of the appellation with extensive sands (these used to be called AOC Sables St Emilion), but these soils are not reflected in the classified rankings and so not included in this tasting.

We looked at two gravel dominant wines, Figeac and Cheval Blanc, and three with varying degrees of limestone and clay-limestone – Clos Fourtet, Canon and Canon-la-Gaffelière.

In the decade between 1989 and 1998, St-Emilion was slowly becoming more gripped by the idea of pushing ripeness and keeping yields low to maximize concentration. Would we see this in the wines? Would it affect ageing potential? Or did these châteaux, all of them renowned Premier Grand Cru Classés, resist the fashion?

Price-wise, it’s the Figeac 1998 that seems to have done the best. It came out at €44 ex-Bordeaux and is now somewhere close to €175 if buying from Bordeaux merchants, so a rise of around 300%. That’s still not bad value compared to Cheval Blanc 1998, which is the only 100-pointer in this tasting but would cost on the Place de Bordeaux €650 today (a little more than the 1989, which is around €480 ex-Bordeaux). Both of these make Clos Fourtet 1998 seem like good value. It was one of the wines of the tasting and is now around €130 ex-Bordeaux.

To put all of these into context, Canon had an ex-Bordeaux price in both 1989 and 1998 of around €28, while Canon-la-Gaffelière was a little more, at closer to €34 ex-Bordeaux. Hard to find today but I saw Canon 1998 listed in the UK at around £50, with Canon la Gaffelière around double that.

Price aside, both years gave some brilliant results, with the edge going, fairly clearly, to 1998.

St-Emilion in figures

Total hectares under vine 5,311ha

Average estate size 8ha

Plantings 79% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon (Malbec, Carmanère and Petit Verdot also planted)

Number of wineries 678

Classified estates 82 at the last ranking in 2012, with 64 grand crus classés and 18 premiers grand crus classés

Tasting St-Emilion 1989 and 1998:

See also: Jefford tastes 1998 Right Bank Bordeaux