1989

1989 / The year that changed the world

If you think you are sometimes spoiled for choice, consider the fate of an editor on the first weekend of June 1989. On the afternoon of Saturday, June 3, the state of Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran's Supreme Leader, began to deteriorate rapidly. Just before midnight, Khomeini, 86, died, his death announced on the radio a few hours later. Tehran is 31 and a half hours behind Beijing, so just as crowds in Iran were taking to the streets in extraordinary expressions of grief, residents of Beijing, no less in shock, were coming to terms with what had happened in the early hours of this Sunday morning. People's Liberation Army troops cleared out the remnants of the student protests in Tiananmen Square, firing into the crowds.

But that's not all. As grief and horror gripped Tehran and Beijing respectively, Poles awoke to a day of hope. In the spring, Poland's ruling Communist Party was forced to open roundtables with the opposition, including representatives of Solidarity, the civic and labor group that survived the imposition of martial law in 1981. In Hungary in 1956, and again in Czechoslovakia in 1968, Soviet tanks crushed popular reform movements. By 1989, however, the winds of change in Eastern Europe had reached gale force. In the Soviet Union itself, the general secretary of the Communist Party, Mikhail Gorbachev, was throwing away old habits like a teenager throwing away last year's fashions. Soviet leaders no longer had the heart of stone or the iron fist to impose their domination by force of arms. So, on June 4, Poland was to hold elections, although the position of the Communist Party was protected. When the two rounds of voting were counted, Solidarnosc had won virtually all the seats in the Sejm, the Polish parliament, that it could contest. The division that had marked Europe since the end of the Second World War was coming to an end. The rivets of the Iron Curtain were beginning to burst.

All historians changed, by resuming what happened before, by revising the
Past judgments will tell you that our understanding of the past is never definitive. What were thought to be world-changing events fade into the subjects of an obscure doctoral dissertation; What seemed like small stories turn out to be the ones that shaped the future. All is relative.

However, 1989 was truly one of those years when the world turned upside down. Some things have changed, and changed completely; We still live with their consequences. Some things have also ended – not just communism as a state practice, for example, but also the idea that the international system is guided solely by state action. In ways that were only dimly perceived 20 years ago, things like multinational corporations, technological innovation, and personal faith now shape our world just as states do.

However significant the events after 1989, the year itself is one for the ages. It was understood at the time. In the most famous contemporary analysis of current events, Francis Fukuyama, a brilliant American academic who was then on the policy planning staff of the US State Department, published an essay in the journal The National Interest entitled "The End of History.” His central thesis statement was unequivocal: "What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War, or the passing of a particular period of post-war history, but the end of history as such: that is, the final point of the ideological evolution of humanity and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government. (Fukuyama turned the article into a book and, over the years, in a spirit of generous intellectual openness, defended and refined her thesis in light of the many attacks she suffered.)

In the hourglass of history, 20 years is just a drop of sand. It is still too early to know whether Fukuyama's claims will be fully confirmed. As I write this, the world is reeling from events in Iran, a state that received little mention in Fukuyama's original article. But one aspect of Fukuyama's thesis proved correct. Despite the fact that the global economy is in the midst of the most severe contraction since the 1930s, there has truly been “an unapologetic victory of economic liberalism” over a competing economic system – that of a global economy.

Bordeaux: The 2nd in a trio of great vintages and which produced a large harvest of ripe, rich and fleshy wines which generally possess soft, silky tannins, accompanied by a high alcohol level. It was the hottest summer since 1949 and the harvest began on August 28, the earliest since 1893. The grapes were harvested in dry conditions, the only concern being that some acidity levels were low, which which has led to suggestions that some wines would not be suitable for long-term aging. Ten years later, these fears have proven to be largely unfounded, as the best wines are now showing extremely well, showing concentration and great complexity.

1989 VINTAGE in Burgundy

Weather conditions were exceptional which led to a notably early harvest with perfectly ripened grapes in both colours. The reds with their velvety tannins have a fine colour, showing softer more elegant tendencies than the 88?s. They make a wonderful choice to drink on a special occasion. The whites in general were very precocious; ripe, powerful, rich, generous and well rounded; most should already have been drunk but the Grand Crus are superb for drinking now and over the next few years.

As regards the style of the 1989's, we now have one or two general impressions. The white wines are of great class. The Chardonnay in Burgundy has produced wines with ripe, powerful aromas and rich, generous body tending, in certain cases, almost to unctuosity. Initial comparisons have been drawn with 1971 and perhaps 1964.

The ripening of the Pinot Noir crop was somewhat hindered in several areas by unexpectedly large quantities of second generation grapes and extremely dry conditions. The resulting natural sugar levels were slightly lower than the recent yardstick year, 1985, but the fruit was in perfect condition. Overall quality will be good to very good.

The red wines have fine, deep colour and quite vinous, concentrated fruity aromas. They are well constituted and round and should be capable of ageing well. Initial comparisons have been drawn with 1966 and 1979.

In the Beaujolais, the Gamay has yielded powerful, fleshy wines lacking perhaps the charm of textbook Beaujolais. The wines are reminiscent of the 1978's.

Champagne: A warm vintage, where simply charming wines were produced. However, there was not enough heat throughout the year. Spring frosts killed some of the shoots, reducing the harvest by 20%. The inflorescences were discontinued due to the exceptionally cold weather. This was followed by the maturation of the grapes in two phases. The first harvest was already made at the beginning of September and the second at the beginning of October. Overall, the result was a great harvest of good wines. The vintage has been compared to what others believe to be the legendary hot vintages of the century – 1947, 1959 and 1976. The wines are marked by rich essence, heavy taste, tropical fruitiness and softer acids. The vintage matures noticeably faster than 1988 and 1990, reaching its peak in the following 3 to 5 years.

Italy Vintage Report Tb: 1989 was a difficult and low-yielding year. Piedmont suffered a terrible ordeal in June when a hailstorm cut a swath through Barolo, destroying plantations. Some growers lost up to half of their crops, but Barolo and Barbaresco still managed to produce small, high-quality crops. This vintage is generally considered the best for red wine. In Tuscany, 1989 was one of the most variable on record. Some areas suffered from incessant rain, while others suffered from drought. Montalcino and Montepulciano are doing the best. Indeed, these wines are generally light and mature quickly.

Period report by Angelo Gaja: I believe that 1989 is a beautiful vintage. The vintage is not popular because 1989 was only good in Piedmont and mainly in the Langhe. It rained a lot in Italy in October and November. In Piedmont we had a cloudy period for almost two weeks. It rained in Cuneo, Switzerland, and partially in Asti. But not in the Langhe. We crossed our fingers. The sun returned after a fortnight and we had sunshine from October to early November. Perfectly ripe. The vintage was obscured in 1990, of course.