1988

The Hubble Space Telescope comes into operation to explore deep space and is still in full use today to map our universe. A bomb explodes on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21. Prozac was also first sold as an antidepressant, some of the big films of that year included Rain Man, Die Hard and A Fish Called Wanda.

First transatlantic fiber optic cable capable of carrying 40,000 telephone calls simultaneously

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The first of a trio of great vintages and which was rather overshadowed by the 89s and 90s. Certainly the most "classic" of the trio, with many wines which are not overtly fruit-focused, but which have levels of extract and concentration which make them perfect candidates for prolonged storage.

The first half of the year was exceptionally cold and wet and the vintage was saved by a long, dry and hot summer. Harvest began in mid-September and some cabernets were not picked until the 3rd week of October. Most wines are now approaching their plateau of maturity, with the choice of the bunch being the Cabernet-dominated Médocs and Graves. Pauillac was particularly successful.

1988 VINTAGE in Burgundy / 1988 has been a good vintage in Burgundy, with enough quantity to offset the revived demand of our foreign and home customers.​

Good summer weather meant an early harvest of excellent quality for the reds. Rich and well structured, these wines which were a little rough in their youth today offer a wonderful opportunity to drink quality mature Pinot Noir, the best will continue to improve. The great whites can be put in the same category as the reds : full, round, well balanced and are very good to drink now.

The nearly geat year

As anyone knows, what we need in Burgundy is warm weather all the time, with the exception of a few showers now and then just to keep the leaves green, and at the end of the season to help the vine continue to produce sugar and to lower acidity.

The spell of cold that we had at the beginning of September interrupted a long period of sunshine and stopped for a while the maturing of the grapes: rain only came during the vendange itself, too late to ensure their perfect ripening.

The last days of the season were, as always, the most breath-taking, with marvellous summer-like weather in the second half of September. Harvesting as late as possible was beneficial, as it nearly always is: there was no rot on the superb bunches of grapes, a deep colour, and an excellent balance of the various elements. 

During the summer of 1988 and until the very end we had only one half of the average rainfall. This deficit was difficult to overcome and, with the hot weather of August and most of September and the happy flowering of the grapes in the middle of June, we have been just a hair's breadth from a great vintage.

All the good winegrowers who had pruned carefully and not indulged in high yields easily obtained from 12 to 12.5 potential degrees of alcohol, which indicates very good quality; and although the lack of rain slowed the ripening, it had the advantage of keeping the individual grapes small, giving concentration, tannin and colour to the wines.

After the first "décuvage", the overall impression is that the red wines have structure and tannin, with a beautiful vivid colour, the depth of which is really only seen in good vintages.

The acidity is medium to high and it is obvious that we will have a "vin de garde", which will mellow only after a long period of ageing in cask and bottle.

It is difficult to compare 1988 with another vintage, as precocity usually means that the vines have had plenty of sunshine and produce mellow and soft wines; however, the `88 will compare more with a very good vintage picked in October, like 1978 or 1952.

The great whites will be put in the same category as the reds: good structure, power and a lot of firmness.

In the Beaujolais, the news is excellent too: good colour, perfect ripening and overall abundance.

CHAMPAGNE: From this year, the most classic and refined champagnes were produced. Champagnes are long-lived and mature slowly to their peak.

Winter and spring were fairly mild. Inflorescences began in good weather in June. Already during the next month, the cloud masses swarmed to the Champagne province. Finally, the sky broke right before harvest. The harvest remained smaller than in the previous year. Even though the weather was unstable, the vintage produced fine and elegant wines, of which many have just reached their peak. The wines are marked by high acids and a concentrated, precise style. A real classic vintage. There is no rush to enjoy these wines, as they endure storage well and will continue to develop well for the next 10–12 years. Indicative of a slowly maturing vintage is that Krug released to the market first the Clos du Mesnil 1989 vintage before the 1988 vintage. This year has also stayed in mind as the vintage when Jacquesson & Fils produced the first of its three late bottled special cuvées – the Jacquesson DT (Dégorgement Tardif).

Australia Vintage Report:  Below average rainfall through the growing season and storms and hail in October 1997 led to some yield losses. Parts of Eden Valley were also hit by Spring frosts which affected yields. This was followed by a warm dry summer, “an unhurried vintage” which produced reds of generally good quality but “forward, plain” whites.

In 1988 there were 5,468 hectares of vineyards in Barossa and 43,371 tonnes of wine grapes were crushed in that vintage.

Grape supply turned around dramatically with demand now exceeding supply, forcing grape prices up by an average of 20%. Chardonnay was in strong demand but Riesling demand dropped away.

The wine industry introduced the “Enjoy wine in moderation campaign” to head off health lobby criticisms.

Grant and Helen Burge started their own winery, Grant Burge Wines, in the old Moorooroo Cellars on the banks of Jacob’s Creek. Grant followed a five generation tradition started by English pioneer John Burge in 1855 of grapegrowing and winemaking. He also made the first vintage of Meshach Shiraz in 1988, a full bodied red wine sourced from old vine fruit, which was to become his company’s flagship and a multi-award winner.

In the same year, experienced wine marketer Bob McLean, whose career included brand development at Orlando and Petaluma, joined forces with fifth generation vigneron Karl Lindner and winemaker Stuart Blackwell to revitalise 44-year-old St Hallett Wines at Krondorf. St Hallett Old Block Shiraz was repositioned as a classic Barossa red wine.

Brian Walsh was appointed Chief Winemaker at Yalumba.
Senior management undertook a buy-out of Orlando Wines from Reckitt and Coleman.

Australia’s most successful membership based mail order wine club Cellarmaster Wines Pty Ltd established a winemaking and distribution base at Dorrien and opened Dorrien Estate winery (although there was no cellar door outlet).

Italy Vintage Report by Tb: 1988 was an outstanding year in every respect, even if its crop yield was small. Piedmont struggled with chilly and rainy weather in the spring and early summer. However, beginning in July the weather became hot and dry, allowing the grapes to achieve their optimal ripeness, which was largely ruined by the rains that came at harvest time. As a result, the crop was small, but very high in quality. Tuscany was spared from the harvest rains, and a hot, dry summer made for an outstanding crop, even if it was the smallest in 25 years. Wines from this vintage can still mature favourably in the bottle for another ten years, but Sangiovese-dominated wines are in their prime right now.

Port Vintage: A disastrously small vintage that saw most quintas losing 50% of their production, and some as much as 70%. No declarations were made, and only a handful of Single Quinta Vintage Ports were produced. They are best for drinking fairly young, rather than ageing.

Vintage Report 1988 Château Margaux:

Weather report
After a very mild winter and a humid spring, June and early July were particularly rainy. Then, from mid-July until the end of September, hot and very dry weather set in. Despite some light rain showers at the start of the harvest, the harvest took place in excellent conditions. (Pick-up started on October 3)

Wine:

The very deep color, the rich and intense nose and the magnificent structure on the palate are very reminiscent of the 1986. They have the same powerful and ripe tannins, with perhaps a little less concentration, but also less austerity. Unlike 1986, in fact, 1988 is starting to open up; We can therefore drink it, knowing full well that it will continue to improve for several years - seven or eight at least. (September 2010)

Burgundy Report: Arguably the  of the decade producing consistently high quality wines the breadth of the Côte de Nuits. 1988 is a more complete version of 1985. This time the wealth of sumptuous fruit was matched by a firmness of structure gave us first class wines.

Prices rose at the Hospices sale by 35%, albeit after two quiet years, and growers also increased their prices though not by as much. Tasted later in 2000, the wines seemed still very much on the young side. Those at village level were singing, the premier and grands crus still tight.

Red Burgundy 1988 - The Weather
For once Burgundy escaped the pitfalls of frost, hail and rot. Spring 1988 was warm and gentle without a disastrous cold snap, leading to good flowering conditions in June, followed by hot, dry weather throughout most of July and August.

September was mostly fine and dry; some growers began harvesting in the 3rd week of the month but those who waited until the end of September were amply rewarded and produced the best wines.

In youth the wines were deeply coloured and well structured with very prominent tannins. Over the years they have become more integrated and harmonious, with the best wines now combining a very good balance of ripe fruit, crisp acidity and svelte tannins. They are drinking well now, although many of the top wines still have not reached their peak.