1996

To finish this little miniseries, we will look at 1996, which was a very good year for Champagne, clarets, red and white Burgundies, Loire (especially botrytised sweet wines) and Alsace. It was an outsatnding vintage for Sauternes, giving the richest and most complex wines since 1990. Rhone had a good vintage, but the wines were variable, especially in the Southern Rhone. Outside of France, there was a very good vintage in Italy and Spain as well as Australia and New Zealand. The growing season was a touch too dry for Germany, although some elegant ageworthy wine still managed to be produced, including some superb Eiswein. It was good for California too, but 1996 tended to be overlooked being sandwiched between the superb 1995 and 1997 vintages. The wines for Chile, Argentina and South Africa are also quite good for 1996.