Rockeries in Living Rooms: 1988 vs. 1989 Bordeaux

BY NEAL MARTIN | JULY 02, 2024

A golden glow surrounds my childhood memories of 1988 and 1989. I had the comfort of living in my parents’ semi-detached in Leigh-on-Sea with all the attendant five-star hotel service: dad’s mug of tea in the morning, mum slipping a hot water bottle under the duvet on cold nights. Once the front door was closed behind me, however, I embarked upon the kind of teenage rebellion that years later, I regaled to my own daughters in a futile effort to demonstrate “cool dad” credentials, only to spend sleepless nights fretting they might be up to the same treacherous acts of hedonism. In those years, practically every night was spent gallivanting about in crowded smoke-filled bars, nightclubs with names like Penthouse or the notorious den of iniquity, The Pink Toothbrush. Then, there were naïve teens who foolishly decided to enhance classroom popularity by hosting a house party when equally naïve mum and dad went on a weekend break. Oh dear. Some of these parties have passed into folklore. My personal favorite is the one where some lads rebuilt the garden rockery in the living room: boulders, soil, plants and gnomes. I'm not sure whether our host’s parents appreciated this upon their return, not that anyone had a clue who the host actually was. This period marked my first foray into DJing. The music was Public Enemy, Prince, INXS, Inner City and The Cure. Wine? It only existed either for its intoxicating purposes or the Liebfraumilch that chaperoned the Sunday roast and left a sugary aftertaste that was gone by around Wednesday.  

I was oblivious to the fact that Bordeaux was finishing a decade that saw the region enter the modern age, a region carried on a tide of benevolent vintages. Wineries had seen burgeoning demand for Claret, and attendant increased prices that gave them income to invest and update wineries, some of which were unchanged since the war. Whereas the 1982 vintage could not really take advantage of that flush of income, the triumvirate that finished the decade certainly could. Add to the mix the rise of Robert Parker, who, whatever your opinion of his palate, was a lodestar that incentivized winemakers to improve quality. No wonder those vintages are now a treasure trove for wine lovers. Of the three that ended the decade, received wisdom is that 1989 and 1990 vie for supremacy and shade in 1988.

It is always useful to revisit vintages and examine how the wines are evolving. In the last six months, I attended three dinners in London, two focusing on 1989 and one on the 1988 vintage. Gathering these notes together, I added a handful of ad hoc wines, including one or two Champagnes that whetted the palate before broaching the claret. In total, that makes around 40 reviews.

Some bottles, such as the 1988 Lafite-Rothschild, were served in magnums. Do they age better than bottles? I am still waiting to be totally convinced based on empirical evidence.