Will there ever be another vintage like 1992 White Burgundy?

I was recently drinking a 2015 St. Innocent Freedom Hill Dijon Clone Chardonnay, and thought the wine had been affected by boytritis. I didn’t realize that it was Dijon Clone, and that was what was actually causing me to think that, but it still got me thinking- will there ever be another white Burgundy vintage like 1992 ever again? I feel like farming practices have moved in such a way that we won’t see another vintage like it again.

Thoughts?

Ian, I enjoyed a number of ‘92s back when, but explain what you consider unique about the vintage.

If you mean the botrytis notes some of the 2010s were showing them a year or two ago. Haven’t tried any recently.

Yes, that’s what I meant.

Which ones did you have that were like that?

I feel like it was pretty wide spread in 1992. I don’t recall having had any 2010 whites that exhibited it.

From Don’s 2010 Vintage Assessment Dinners.

At the end there is a comment by Jean Marc Roulot regarding botrytis. Indeed my last bottle of Roulot MP exhibited some honeyed notes.

The 1992 Maurice Chapuis Corton-Charlemagne [blanc] might be the best wine I’ve ever put in my mouth.

It drank like water.

Based on how the wines taste, I always assumed botrytis was quite widespread in 1992, but a number of producers have corrected me on that. Leflaive, for example, insist that there was essentially no botrytis in their 1992 Chevalier, though it smells very exotic. Given how the 2017 whites are showing, often with very perfumed aromas of citrus oil, I wonder if they will evolve in a similar way. I didn’t witness the 1992 harvest, but I was there in 2017 and there really wasn’t much botrytis. 2013 was the last white Burgundy vintage with an appreciable impact from botrytis I would say.

I always think of 92 as a fatter California-like vintage though they tightened up and lasted so much longer than I expected.

Your description, William,

Reminded me a bit of the '94 Leflaive Batard being poured at La Paulee last year. Any botryitis there? Was an interesting and exotic wine, though finally I think I preferred the tension that I found in '01.

In any case, thanks in advance, and like so many, very much appreciate your posts here.
Josh

Yet remarkably the pHs of the 1992s are actually very lively!

Some numbers from the Leflaive Chevalier vertical I did earlier this year for context:

1993: 13.6% alcohol, pH 3.12
1992: 14% alcohol, pH 3.08
1991: 14.1% alcohol, pH 3.26
1990: 14.1% alcohol, pH 3.23
1989: 14.4% alcohol, pH 3.36

Whether that is a natural pH is of course another question.

1994 had ten days of rain in September and so plenty of rot, so I think your analysis is almost certainly correct!

Cheers!

wow. 93 came across as a ball of acid its first 2 decades.

This exactly. Given pre-premox, they are now a treasure trove, unfortunately not mine. If Chet Kern is lurking, I’m guessing he has a nice supply.

Like Alan stated, they tightened up (heading into the late 90s), but the reputation from release still persisted. In reality, acidity levels were healthy in many wines, but they came across as relatively fat when young. Grand Crus weren’t as big a price difference back then, and I remember a few great ones that I haven’t had in a very long time. CC was very fine in 1992.

That’s so bizarre. That’s EXACTLY the wine I was thinking of. I had the 86, 89 and 92 side by side by side, and the 92 really stood out for it’s exotic richness and power.

The 92s were very early in my white burgundy experience, and they certainly aged very well. I’m finding some similar characters in 2008 personally, so surprised that hasn’t come up. Roulots have some exoticism / sweetness (quite different from their surrounding vintages) and quite a few other wines I’ve tried have a good balance of acidity / structure but with those honeyed characters.

I agree, I’ve also picked up some honeyed notes in 08 but haven’t tried any recently to see if they still persist.

I don’t own a lot of 2008s, nor do I regularly pursue, but sounds like I should find a few to try.

Ian - I can highly recommend Sauzet, Carillon, Roulot and Ramonet. The “92-character” is possibly most obvious on the Roulots (cf other vintages) but also there (respectively) in the Combettes & Chevalier; Perrieres & Village (of course the BBM is ALWAYS honeyed, and possibly not a much superior wine to the Referts and Perrieres in '08); Ruchottes and Montrachet (good luck finding the latter!).

I had a Carillon 08 Perrieres in February, would co-sign this. For a second was worried about oxidation (very rare for a Carillon), but was instead these notes.