Thursday 2 February 2012

THE NAUGHTIES

The naughties have been over for over 2 years but we still managed to taste some very good tipples of the 90s. 09, 10, 11 were the best years for Champagne not so much in the fact that the vintages were good but  because of the recession that hit the world and that Champagne suffered in that the good stuff was left unconsumed by all the bankers that were laid off.

But this jolly years were eventually going to end. It is 2012 and if we manage to lay our hands on something from the 90s (mostly latter years of the decade) is now becoming a matter of luck or funds as those years will have gradually moved into the realms of later disgorgements of vintages of most houses.

The more accessible stuff now available is anywhere from 2000 to 2006 vintages and some small houses have already released 2009 (I hope I am wrong in what I have written yet, my eyes do not often fail me). Which is still a bad thing as some of the vintages will fair at nearly 10 years of bottle age as opposed to i.e. 95 released in 2002.

One thing that is noteworthy is that we are now into the 3rd decade of since 1990 and I have not heard that any other vintage since would have been as good....well, actually 96 was pretty close but not same.

It has not even been a month, since someone played Evita on spotify and I noticed the year in which it was released and commented on the 1996 that last time I saw 1996 written like that it was on a bottle of Champagne.

So may this decade bring something just as good at least as 95, 90, 96. In truth global warming might not help, and even if there turns out to be a year to be remembered in Champagne we will not have the opportunity to indulge in it for at least another decade. Will be this the limbo decade for Champagne?

I have started to taste some of the recent releases up to 2004 and I cannot say I have been overwhelmed! (yet)