1989 | Classification of the best wines of the 1989 vintage

Comptoir des Millésimes, specialist in Old vintages, today presents an overview of the best-rated wines of the 1989 vintage. This vintage will correspond to the 30-year anniversaries in 2019.

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Top-rated 1989 French wines

We present the grands crus with the highest scores on the site The Wine Advocateby Robert Parker and his team. We will mention the tasting notes, as well as the tasting date. This is not an official 1989 wines. Everyone can have different tasting experiences, knowing that the 1989 vintage is already old. However, we wanted to give you an idea of the great wines most likely to be ideal for tasting based on their previous scores.

Buying a 1989 Grand Cru

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1989 grands crus rated 100/100!

• Pétrus 1989 Robert Parker, January 1, 2003 "On the palate, the wine has spectacular intensity, richness, massive concentration and high levels of tannin. Yet the wine is fabulously well defined. It doesn't seem to be as evolved as the 1990 vintage, and my instinct suggests there's a bit more tannin, but both are as prodigious as Petrus." 

►See our other vintages of Petrus◄

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• Beaucastel, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Tribute to Jacques Perrin : Jeb Dunnuck February 28, 2015 "The first vintage of this cuvée, the Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin, ever more colorful, is deeper, richer and more powerful than the 1990, but slightly less evolved and exuberant. From a torrid, dry year, this incredible cuvée is massive, with classic black fruits, grilled herbs, charred meats, melted licorice and truffle aromas and flavors, full-bodied richness, dense, layered texture, multidimensional and blockbuster finish that just won't quit."

►See our other Beaucastel◄ vintages

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• Clinet R. Parker, January 1, 2003 "A saturated purple color and a sweet nose of creme de cassis intermixed with incense, licorice, smoke and minerals. As the wine sits in the glass, more blueberry and blackberry notes emerge, mixed with toasty oak, earth and spice. This spectacularly concentrated, full-bodied, multidimensional wine is the stuff of dreams." 

►See our other vintages of Château Clinet◄

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• Domaine Huet, Vouvray, Le Mont Moelleux Premier Trie Fin de Presse Stephan Reinhardt, Nov. 30, 2015 "Its bouquet is deep, intense, absolutely precise and fresh in its spicy expression of white pepper, nutmeg, bay leaf, blood oranges, mandarins and noble ripe chenin raisins which, according to Noël Pinguet, are not attacked by botrytis cinerea, even though it was late 1989. On the palate, this Le Mont is just perfect: very intense and concentrated, a honeyed, mellow honey with ripe fruit, but also spicy, mineral and full of finesse and tension. Very compact, but with plenty of perfect fruit flesh. Velvety texture, lots of power and concentration."

►See our other vintages of Domaine Huet◄

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• Zind Humbrecht, Pinot Gris, Clos Windsbuhl Late Harvest Pierre Rovani, Oct. 28, 2000 "Tasting this monumental pinot gris Clos Windsbuhl Vendange Tardives is a breathtaking experience. It's magnificent in its entirety. It has exemplary breadth, texture, refinement, balance and length. Although it's early and at first seems to give everything it's got, it becomes increasingly clear that it has even more underlying power and concentration that will be displayed in time, with cellaring. The 1989 is sweet (85 grams of residual sugar per liter versus 60). It has a golden color and bursts from the glass with aromas reminiscent of Peking duck skin soaked in plum sauce." 

►See our other vintages of Zind-Humbrecht◄

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• Haut-Brion Robert Parker, January 1, 2003 "This continues to be one of the immortal wines and one of the greatest young Bordeaux wines of the last half-century. Consistently prodigious and almost certain to bet above the blind-tasting map in this and other vintages, the 1989 Haut-Brion is a flawless, majestic classic, a tribute to this phenomenal terroir and its singular characteristics. The wine still has a very thick, viscous ruby/purple color, as well as a spectacular, youthful but impressive bouquet of aromas, ranging from scorched earth to liquid minerals, graphite, blackberry and blackcurrant jam, toast, licorice and spice box. The fruit, extract and glycerine contents of this viscous, full-bodied, low-acid wine are impressive. The wine's brilliant symmetry, extraordinary purity and homogeneity are the hallmarks of a modern legend. It is still in its development phase." 

►See our other Haut Brion◄ vintages

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• The Haut-Brion Mission : Robert Parker August 31, 2012 "Even from the barrel, flawless 1989 La Mission revealed a special elixir-like aspect, tasting inspired by Chanel. It still possesses a blue/purple color with just a hint of garnet, and the explosive aromatics offer notes of licorice, crème de cassis, blueberry liqueur, barbecued meats, truffles and graphite. If that's not enough to make you salivate, the palate was never disappointed either. Full-bodied with extraordinary opulence and soft, well-integrated, velvety tannins, this fresh, lively, blockbuster La Mission seems to be one of those rare wines that never goes through a closed, unfriendly stage. This has been a compelling, multi-dimensional effort from the barrel, which is in its infancy and heading into its late teens. A remarkable viticultural tour de force, this is one of La Mission-Haut-Brion's most profound. Expected maturity: now-2050.

►See our other vintages of Mission Haut brion◄

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• M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon Robert Parker, January 1, 1997: "The 1989 Le Pavilion is a prodigious wine. Made with yields of 14 hectoliters per hectare, this parcel of old vines (averaging 70-80 years old) has yielded an opaque black/purple-colored wine with a stunning bouquet of violets, cassis, minerals and new oak. On the palate, the similarity in texture, richness and perfect balance to the captivating 1986 Mouton-Rothschild is striking, only this wine is richer and longer. This extraordinarily well-balanced wine probably won't be ready to drink for at least 5-10 years, but it will evolve for three decades or more. It's a huge wine, yet incredibly well delineated." 

►See our other Chapoutier◄ vintages 

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• Montrose From Neal Martin on March 31, 2017 "Lucidly colored, the aromatics don't resist vibrant blackberry, black truffle and black truffle, with hints of underbrush, all with sensational precision that few can match in this vintage (indeed, its precision gives it a veneer of modernity" is now more commonplace in Bordeaux). The palate is brilliantly balanced with filigree tannins. There's a magnificent spine here, extremely fresh and taut, crystalline even with exceptional detail, mineral-rich finish that lingers on the palate. Hard to fault, this is perhaps the greatest 1989 Montrose I've tasted, and I certainly don't wish to take anything away from the 1990 Montrose I've tasted, the 1989 is now the one I'd choose. Is this the greatest Saint Estèphe of the 1980s? I'd put this in the top five Bordeauxs of the 1980s. Could it work its way to perfection?"

►See our other vintages of Montrose◄  

 

The "almost perfect" 1989 rated 99/100

• Domaine Huet, Vouvray, Clos du Bourg Moelleux Première Trie : Stephan Reinhardt on Nov. 30, 2015 "This wine has an exceptionally intense orange to amber color and explosive fruit on the nose. Very ripe, concentrated and aromatic - more akin to an apricot or blood orange confit - and underpinned by spicy, fresh lemon aromas, this incredibly clean and precise nose indicates great depth and concentration. Indeed, this wine resembles a syrup or nectar on the palate, so concentrated, bright and intense in its expression of fruit while the bright, laser-like acidity is that of an Eiswein, as if the wine were still fermenting...! What I have here on my table is just the perfect bottle although you can tell the acidity is too dominant, the tannins are a little too grippy, and the style a little but too oxidative (think port white and sweet sherry), but I love it when one wine raises questions and doesn't let you move on to the next. There's so much finesse and elegance as well as drama in this wine, as if it were Shakespeare's Macbeth interpreted by a winemaker."

 

• Domaine Huet, Vouvray, Le Mont Moelleux Première Trie Stephan Reinhardt Nov. 30, 2015 "Bright golden yellow in color, Vouvray Le Mont Moelleux Première Trie 1989 with ginger reveals the subtle, aromatic, cool and aristocratic bouquet typical of this lieu-dit, adjacent to the Loire with its greenish marl flint soils. Very clear and delicate, yet intense and concentrated fruit aromas, as well as chamomile and mineral aromas on the nose, migrate to an extremely elegant and finesse palate with sweet peach aromas and an intense and intense palate, with a stimulating, precise and salty purity of all the endless finishes."

►See our other vintages of Domaine Huet◄  

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• Domaine de La Romanée-Conti, Montrachet Grand Cru Robert Parker, February 21, 1992 "Unsurprisingly, this is another impressive example of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. If you're looking for purity, honeyed thickness and glycerin, you won't find a more concentrated Chardonnay in the world. Here's a bottle that offers an impressive nose of honey, butter and apple, intermingled with smoked nuts and toasted new oak. On the palate, it's almost fatty due to its extraordinary viscosity, thickness and richness. The finish is explosive, and if alcohol should be above 14.5%, it can't be detected because of the wine's phenomenal concentration."   

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• Guigal, Côte-Rôtie, La Landonne Credit: Jeb Dunnuck September 14, 2015 "Another sensational wine is the 1989 Côte Rotie la Landonne. Served right next to the '99 and just as deep ruby in color, it offered a classic range of truffles, underbrush, licorice, smoked meats, black olives and sweet black fruits. Deep, concentrated, ultra-pure and with powerful tannins, Côte-Rôtie is a powerful, fully mature wine that will continue to thrill you for the next decade or more."

 

• Guigal, Côte-Rôtie, La Turque Robert Parker, January 1, 1997 "Early, sweet, jammy notes. Aromas of smoke, licorice and black raspberry, along with its phenomenal richness, make this another extraordinary tasting experience. Full-bodied, dense and thick, this wine has the essence of black cherry. Still young, it's already magnificent to drink. Expected maturity: now-2012.

►See our other Guigal◄ vintages

 

Order a fine 1989 wine

These were the top-rated wines of the 1989 vintage. There are, of course, other marvels in this vintage (e.g. Château Margaux 1989 rated 100/100 by the Wine Spectatoranother great team of professionals).

Don't hesitate to ask your questions in the comments! Visit our website if you're looking for great wines from the 1989 vintage. You can also discover all our vintages and make your own selection. wine gift box.

Buying a 1989 Grand Cru