Spain Vintage Flashcards
Spain: 1982
Exceptional. “Best since 1970.”
Spain: 1986
Good in Rioja; better in Ribera del Duero.
Spain: 1989 & 1990
Two large crops; rich and charming.
Spain: 1991
Another excellent year; small crop but weighty and structured.
Spain: 1992 & 1993
Promising start ruined by prolonged rains and severe rot. Good but not great.
Spain: 1994
Lower quantity due to spring frost and summer drought, but very high quality.
Spain: 1995
Ribera del Duero had a similarly small crop to 1994, but riper and better balanced.
Rioja had incredibly big, high quality yields.
Spain: 1996
Good in Rioja; great in Ribera del Duero.
Spain: 1997
“Rain at harvest. Not glorious.”
Spain: 1998
High quantity in both regions; Ribera struggled with ripeness over so much yield.
Spain: 1999
Some difficulty due to rains; Ribera del Duero is better than Rioja, but neither region is as good as 1998.
Spain: 2000
Huge crop levels, extremely variable quality, some wines lacking in concentration. Some excellent examples in Ribera del Duero.
Spain: 2001
Small crop of excellent quality.
Spain: 2002
Very cold, very wet, generally disastrous for both quantity and quality.
Spain: 2003
Small, drought-plagued, early harvest. Many unbalanced wines.