Bordeaux 1990 horizontal tasting

1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business. Tannins were rarely well integrated, palates bursting with fresh and juicy fruit and to my surprise I even found myself struggling to find aging notes in quite a few wines. But the performance was inconsistent among estates with some having closed down (or closed down again) while others appeared past their peak.

Unfortunately I never had a chance to taste 1990 Bordeaux fresh in the bottle, but you can feel the long term aging potential that was built into the structure of this hot and dry vintage. However, my high hopes were not met on average as the line-up lacked the type of high-flyers I encountered in other vintage verticals, like Margaux, Haut-Brion in 2009; Mouton, VCC and again Margaux in 2010 and Cheval Blanc in 2015.

None of the wines were decanted prior to serving and presented in flights of 4, all blind. Within the detail, the 24 wine line-up presented a number of surprises. My top list includes some usual suspects as you would expect like Figeac (96), Haut-Brion (95) and Mouton (95). The biggest positive surprises were Calon Ségur (95) and Marquis de Terme (96) while an honourable mention went to Montrose (94).

Lowlights included Troplong Mondot (80 or NR if you're generous), Ducru (88) and Léoville Las Cases. Of the big guns the most painful disappoints were Cheval Blanc (93), Latour (92) and Ausone (90), hopefully they are just in a dumb phase… Time will tell.

The sample size was too small for reliable conclusions, not least because St Emillon and St Julien were represented disproportionately in the sample size (almost half of the 24 wines). But what I would say is generally the right bank – with the exception of Figeac – is not in a good spot right now. And neither is St Julien. Paulliac was mixed. St Estephe and Pessac, on the other hand, look like safe bets to open now. Lastly, given an outstanding Marquis de Terme, I would really like to explore Margaux further – unfortunately this was the only wine from the appellation.

Line-up in descending order:
Figeac (96)
Marquis de Terme (96)
Haut-Brion (95)
Mouton (95)
Calon Ségur (95)
Montrose (94)
Haut-Bailly (94)
Yquem (94)
Cheval Blanc (93)
Lynch Bages (93)
Latour (92)
Pichon Lalande (92)
Canon (92)
L'Evangile (91)
Gruaud Larose (91)
Ausone (90)
Beychevelle (90)
Léoville Las Cases (89)
Lagrange (89)
Ducru Beaucaillou (88)
Sociando Mallet (88)
Troplong Mondot (80)
Talbot (NR)
Clerc Milon (NR)

• 1990 Château Haut-Bailly 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlights included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  Tobacco, barnyard, scorched earth, dark fruit, dry leather. Fresh and fruit forward palate, tannin with grip and a long, juicy finish. This was the oldest Haut-Bailley I have tasted to date (others include 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017) and I'm impressed by the constantly good to very good performance over the years.

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• 1990 Château Haut-Brion 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlights included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  A lot of depth and concentration, intense fruit emanating some heat, but all in manageable territory. Great nose of black truffles, mushrooms and lots of ink. Dark berries mostly as fruit. Palate still very wild but showing lots of leathery, aging notes whilst otherwise appearing young and untamed with a bitter touch. A great albeit still very young wine with a bold structure and built for very long term aging. One of my highlights and I'm sure a good marathon-decant would fast-forward you into even greater realms of pleasure.

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• 1990 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlights included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  Not overly expressive at first, but opening up. Espresso, red and dark cherry, blueberries, smoky oak notes and leather. Round and well integrated palate, but lacking layers. Otherwise very much fruit forward. But there is details and finesse to the nose which has to be liked and a patient drinker or arduous decanter might very well be rewarded with much more than what I found.

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• 1990 Château Sociando-Mallet 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlights included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  A mixed berry type of nose showing only few aging notes. Wonder if in a closed phase currently. Acidity overhang on the palate and drying tannin structure provided for an unpleasant finish.

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• 1990 Château Figeac 96 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlights included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  Intense, ripe fruit of dark cherries, leather and meaty notes with underlying film of menthol. A linearly structured palate with good balance, although still a bit wild. While not quite ready, this command your full attention from the very first moment. Very strong and the wine of the tasting for me.

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• 1990 Château Troplong Mondot 80 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlights included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  Overripe and alcoholic leaving the impression of soy sauce in the making. Unpleasant palate with green, coarse tannin and a vinegar-like taste. Beyond the peak at the verge of imploding was my take. Others in the group were less strict arguing that this is just the oxidative style of Troplong Mondot. But I have my doubts. Neither the 2005, 2009, 2010, 2016 or 2017 were in the least oxidative (all tasted over the last 2 years). Either this was a bad bottle or just an unlucky vintage for the estate.

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• 1990 Château Cheval Blanc 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlights included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  Fine, roasted coffee beans, dark fruit, dried tobacco leaves, other herbal notes. Tannic palate, but not in a bad way, just not ready yet. Muscular build. Fresh and fruity otherwise with a medium+ finish. You can feel the complexity slumbering underneath - but just can’t quite reach it yet. Would very much expect to see me penciling in >95 in 5 or 10 years' time. But for now I'd rather (by far) pop a 2015 bottle than 1990.

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• 1990 Château Ausone 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlights included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  My relationship with Ausone seems cursed. One of the top estates not only in St Emilion, but across Bordeaux, with eye-watering price tags no matter if you buy en primeur or second hand. And despite various attempts, yours truly just never seems to have the luck of having a truly convincing bottle (so far had 1993, 2009, 2010 – of which 2009 best). Unusually green in comparison with others in the vintage, beyond just the menthol touch. Fine aging notes somewhere in the background. Ripe, pretty dark berry fruit. This appears closed for business at the moment. Fresh and fruity palate, but with lots of tannin. This probably needs another decade I’m afraid.

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• 1990 Château Calon-Ségur 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlights included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  Detailed and delicate nose of dried herbs, a bit of tobacco, espresso, ripe almost jammy fruit. The refined texture imposes lots of character and personality carrying great depth and concentration. By far not ready yet, but one of the strongest presentation in the line-up and beating younger top vintages such as 2009, 2010 and 2016 (not the stellar 2018, however).

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• 1990 Château Montrose 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlights included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  Elegant, very faint hints of brett, minty with fresh, ripe and red berry fruit. Big and bold on the palate yet with a soft mouthfeel. Very fresh and fruity finish. Not in the same league as the 1989, but a strong Montrose nonetheless. If you must open, give it a good 6h decant.

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• 1990 Château Latour Grand Vin 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlights included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  This felt as if was standing on the back feet, trying to avoid getting into close contact. But one of the most unique bouquets of the night. A personality best described as dark, herbal even with bit of black olives - could pass as a Syrah at first sight! But then entirely different on the palate. Shining red fruit, lots of acidity with not yet integrated, mouth-coating tannin. You have to acknowledge the singularity here, but pleasure factor was low to be honest. Again probably best stored away for another few years.

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• 1990 Château Lynch-Bages 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlights included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  Almost sweet, sugar-coated type of red berry fruit with only hints of aging notes. This lack of perceptible aging also carries on to the palate where this showed juicy and fresh with a long-lasting finish. I have had great experiences with aged Lynch Bages (1982 and 1989), but this was not one of them.

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• 1990 Château Clerc Milon Flawed

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlights included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  Herbal freshness surrounding an intense, ripe, rather red type of fruit. Unfortunately this was slightly corked in the nose, but more so on the palate.

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• 1990 Château Mouton Rothschild 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlights included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  Roasted coffee bean, very fine aging notes of leather, fruit profile of broad palate of berries, drops of spices and dried herbs. Intense palate with lots of fruit, comparatively round for the vintage at this stage – on the downside in the finish an acidity overhang which kept me from going higher. Having said that, the crowd was of a completely different opinion arguing that the 1990 was outright unpalatable along with other vintages in the 90ies like 1994 and 1996. While I agree on the latter (especially on 1994), going back to my previous 1990 notes a 18 months or so ago I found a pretty consistent assessment, including on acidity. The nay-sayers are wrong.

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• 1990 Château Léoville Las Cases 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlights included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  Extracted, dark berry fruit at the verge of turning sour, in my view. Astringent palate with a bitter, mountain herbs candy touch. I was crestfallen with this was revealed to be the Las Cases. By coincidence, Jeff Leve also posted two days after my tasting on Insta a bottle of Las Cases saying that finally after 30 years the 1990 has come around - and recent scores from fellow CT peers have also been strong. So there is still hope that we just hit a bad bottle here.

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• 1990 Château Gruaud Larose 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlighs included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  Medicinal and herbal with a dark, jammy fruit. Very fruity and juicy palate. There is a uniqueness to it that appealing in a way. But a rather simple wine overall and the uniqueness could also be seen as just unwanted greenness from a glitch in the wine-making.

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• 1990 Château Talbot Flawed

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlighs included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  Oxidized into beef juice unfortunately and - at least this bottle - years past its peak. Not much left on the palate but acidity and tannin. Quite unpleasant.

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• 1990 Château Marquis de Terme 96 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlighs included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  Beautifully floral and perfumed nose. Underneath ripe raspberry. Leathery and barnyard aging notes. Elegant and feminine with great posture. Fresh, green herbs. Big-bodied palate, great balance with fresh fruit, a rather long finish and firmly structured backbone. This was probably the surprise of the tasting, equalizing Figeac on the pedestal. Where did this come from?! Anyhow, what's deserved is deserved and blind-tasting is always fair. I should add, though, that the kind host mentioned that this was by far the best bottle he's had of the 1990 in recent years. Every once in a while bottle variation also works your way it seems…

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• 1990 Château Canon 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlighs included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  Ripe, rather dark cherry type of fruit. There is a broader aromatic profile surrounding this but hard to disentangle given limited expressive power. Fresh and fruity palate, but with plenty of tannin that is in no way integrated. Another one for the needs-much-more-time basket.

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• 1990 Château L'Evangile 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlighs included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  Not overly expressive, quite restrained fruit, but if you look long enough you‘ll find fresh red raspberry and a bit of strawberry in the mix. Unexciting palate with slightly coarse tannin and acidity that didn't fit well with a lack of texture. At its current stage, the weakest showing of an Evangile I've had so far.

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• 1990 Château Beychevelle 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlighs included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  Very extracted fruit which carries on to an alcoholic palate. Hard to find any signs of aging here which again just re-confirms the level of extraction, I guess. But if you like high-octane Bordeaux and can't find your big wallet, this was actually acceptable overall.

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• 1990 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlighs included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  Fresh, pretty polished fruit which transports to the palate. At this point, dipping my nose into glass number 24, I lack the energy for more detailed notes. But this feels nowhere near ready and I fear this will never be given the stark imbalance of structural elements on the palate.

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• 1990 Château Lagrange (Pomerol) 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlighs included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  Fine cedar box, sweet berry fruit. Same on the palate, fresh and fruity but with mouth-coating tannin. Nothing to see here really.

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• 1990 Château d'Yquem 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  1990 Bordeaux horizontal hosted by a private collector. 30 years down the road, the vintage comes across as bold and muscular, youthful and in general not yet open for business or at times closed. Highlighs included Figeac, Haut-Brion, Mouton, Calon Ségur – and to my surprise – Marquis de Terme. See tasting story for more take-aways and the complete line-up.
  
  Tasting note
  Only a very brief comment. Full-bodied, concentrated and built for endless aging. Sweet melon, honey, bee wax, candid fruit the main aromas. Less spicy and no saffron as in more recent vintages. Clearly a very good Sweet wine, but not my favorite vintage from this estate.

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