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A wonderful depth of fruit with very firm and dense tannins. It has so much character of olives, spices, and berries. It’s the wine’s freshness and intensity that won me over the 1990 Cos.James Suckling | 94 JSComplex aromas of tobacco, earth and forest leaves follow through to a medium body, with fine tannins and a fruity and soft finish. Very soft and long. At its peak, but pretty and seamless.—’89/’99 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2009). Drink now.Wine Spectator | 93 WS((Château Cos d’Estournel) The 1989 Cos d’Estournel is a very good example of the vintage, but one that does not show quite the purity of the top wines of ’89. The nose is deep and quite roasted in its aromatic profile, delivering scents of dark berries, roasted cherries, woodsmoke, saddle leather, soil and toasty new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and a touch rustic, with a good core, moderate tannins and a long, complex finish that shows off fine grip and balance. This is not the most elegant rendition of the 1989 vintage, but it is not a bad wine by any stretch of the imagination. I would give the ’89 Cos a few more years of cellaring to allow its tannins to more fully fall away. (Drink between 2015-2050)John Gilman | 90+ JG

This was yet another wine I drunk with wine collector friends in Bangkok – the city is truly buzzing when it comes to wine and when you know where to look! On the nose, there were intense aromas of iron, pot iron and dried fruits, as well as hints of nuts and wet earth. On the palate, it showed a gorgeous texture of ripe tannins and lots of spicy and currant fruit character. A full-bodied, very soft and silky Bordeaux with lots of flavors and a superb finish. Just right now – indeed it seems to be getting younger with age, not older! Decant an hour before. I think it’s better than the legendary 1990. It’s certainly cleaner and more consistent quality.James Suckling | 99 JSThis was not in the tasting at the chateau, but I opened two bottles on my return home, because this is another near-perfect wine from Montrose. It is an unusual two-grade blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot. The wine emerged from another very hot, sunny, dry growing season, with early, generous flowering. Harvest in Montrose took place between September 11 and 28. The wine has never had any issues with brett, making it a somewhat safer selection than the more irregular 1990. Like a tortoise, the 1989 has finally begun to rival and possibly eclipse its long-time younger sibling, the 1990. The wine is absolutely spectacular and in auction sells for a much lower premium than the 1990. That should change. This is a magnificent Montrose, showing notes of loamy soil undertones, intermixed with forest floor, blueberry and blackberry liqueur and spring flowers. It has a full-bodied, intense, concentrated mouthfeel that is every bit as majestic as the 1990, but possibly slightly fresher and more delineated. This great wine should drink well for another 40-50 years.Robert Parker | 98+ RPThe 1989 Montrose is a magnificent wine and this represents one of the best bottles I have encountered – one that was purchased on release and not moved from Berry Brothers’ cellar since. I have encountered perfect bottles of the 1989, and this flirts with that magic figure. It is blessed with a captivating bouquet of blackberry, raspberry, sous-bois and black truffle, the veins of blue fruit just toned down a little compared to previous bottles. The palate is supremely well balanced with those filigreed tannins that in some ways are atypical of Montrose. It delivers silky-smooth texture and an intense finish that glides across the senses. I cannot give a perfect score on this occasion, but without question, this is one of the great Montrose releases. Tasted at the 1989 Bordeaux dinner at Hatched in London.Vinous Media | 98 VMIntense aromas of crushed blackberry and mineral turn to dried flowers and dried fruits, staying fresh on the nose. Full-bodied, offering big, round tannins and loads of ripe, seductive fruit. This is decadent and wild, turning nutty and fruity. A beautiful bottle. This is very close in quality to the legendary 1990.--’89/’99 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2009). Drink now. 22,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WS(Château Montrose) The 1989 Montrose may not be quite as deep as the 1990, but it is a purer wine of precise definition and classic proportions. The superb nose offers up a refined mélange of cassis, dark berries, cigar ash, gravelly soil tones, espresso, fresh herbs and cedar. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and shows off excellent mid-palate depth, with ripe, beautifully-integrated tannins, tangy acids and outstanding focus and grip on the youthful, pristine and old school finish. Some may prefer the more overtly powerful style of the 1990 Montrose, but for me, though the two vintages are qualitatively equivalent, I prefer the superior transparency and more elegant profile of the 1989. The wine is certainly approachable today, but I would still give it another five or six years’ worth of bottle age to really allow it to fully blossom (Drink between 2019-2070)John Gilman | 94 JG

A lovely, classic example of a fully mature St-Julien, replete with ripe berry fruits and tannins that whisper rather than shout. You’re pulling up a chair right by the fireside here, where the embers are still warm. Coffee, cedar and sandalwood take the lead over brambly black fruits. This is lovely, but unquestionably fully evolved and open. Drinking Window 2018 - 2028Decanter | 92 DECA delicious, well-structured Bordeaux, with plenty of ripe fruit, beautiful berry, green tobacco and cherry character. Full-bodied, adding velvety tannins and a long, caressing finish.--1989 Bordeaux horizontal. Best after 2002.Wine Spectator | 92 WSThe bottle of 1989 Léoville-Barton is probably the best I have encountered over the years; indeed, it is better than a bottle opened by Lilian Barton-Sartorius when I visited the property a few weeks earlier. It has a comely old-school claret bouquet of red fruit infused with cedar and loamy scents, and maybe some dustiness, but I have come to expect that in older vintages of this Saint-Julien. The palate is medium-bodied, pure and elegant, with svelte tannin and moderate acidity and a surprisingly sweet, almost precocious finish thanks to that year’s hot summer. It has softened in recent years and yet there is still good backbone and grip to this wine. Just enjoy. Tasted at the 1989 Bordeaux dinner at Hatched in London.Vinous Media | 91 VM It has been a little while since I tasted the Château Léoville-Barton 1989. Now at 25 years of age, it has an open bouquet with vestiges of brambly red fruit, scorched earth and chestnut, touches of fireside hearth developing with time. There is something almost comforting about Anthony Barton’s wine, its familiarity putting you at ease. The palate is medium-bodied with tannins that have softened in recent years and it gently builds to a saline, rather austere finish. Gentle, but classy Saint Julien, you can enjoy this for another 15 years without worry. Tasted June 2014. Drink Date 2014 - 2030Robert Parker | 90 RP

One of the wines of the vintage, the 1989 Pichon-Longueville Baron is drinking beautifully today. Bursting from the glass with aromas of ripe blackcurrants, plums, Cuban cigar, loamy soil, black truffles and burning embers, it’s medium to full-bodied, rich and enveloping, with powdery tannins and a concentrated core of fruit. Fleshy and dramatic, with a sumptuous, low-acid profile and a long, expansive finish, to my palate this is the one 1989 Pauillac that, on a good day, can rival the extraordinary 1989 Lynch Bages. While I tend to think it’s at its peak, every bottle I open from my cellar in Beaune seems to be better than the last.Robert Parker | 97 RPThe 1989 Pichon-Baron repeats its performance from the vertical tasting in May 2018. It storms from the glass, bearing copious blackberry, cedar and perhaps a little more mint than I noticed on the previous bottle. There is so much youthful zeal to this harmonious, refined Pauillac that you would barely guess it is 30 years old. Long and tender with a graphite-infused finish, this bottle might be even better than the ex-château example. Tasted at the 1989 Bordeaux dinner at Hatched in London.Vinous Media | 95 VM(Château Pichon-Baron) The 1989 vintage remains the single greatest wine I have ever tasted from Château Pichon-Baron, and this most recent bottle was flat out spectacular! I have liked this wine very well from the moment it was released, but never imagined it would rise to the level it is currently displaying, and it was clearly one of the great, great bargains of the 1989 vintage when it first came out. The bouquet is deep, pure and very, very promising, albeit still a tad on the young side, as it delivers a refined aromatic constellation of black cherries, plums, a touch of mocha, gravelly soil tones, cigar smoke and cedar. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and rock solid at the core, with great focus and grip, moderate tannins and a long, nascently complex and impeccably balanced finish. I last drank this in the autumn of 2017 and it was still a few years away from fully blossoming, but it is one of the purest, most precise and promising 1989s to be found in the Médoc! Great juice. (Drink between 2021-2060)John Gilman | 95 JGWhat a nose here, from crushed mulberry to tanned leather to tar. Full-bodied, with big, velvety tannins that are soft and caressing, like cashmere. This is so tight and powerful still; it seems to be holding back. Be patient, because it will open with another five or six years of bottle age. Hard to wait. So why do it?--’89/’99 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2009). Drink now. 20,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WS

Harvest took place this year from 11th to 24th September. The wine was aged for around 12 months in two-thirds new oak. Pale to medium brick colored, the 1989 Ducru-Beaucaillou sashays out of the glass with pretty notes of dried flowers, fallen leaves and dusty soil over a core of warm figs, dried cherries, prunes and spice cake plus wafts of unsmoked cigars and powdered cinnamon. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is still seductively rich with a lively line of soft, silt-like tannins, finishing long and wonderfully savory.Readers should note that this vintage fell within a notoriously patchy period at Ducru, where the cellar is likely to have fallen victim to TCA or a TCA-like taint, and it appears some bottles were impacted from 1986 to 1994. By 1995, the chateau had a completely new vat room/cellar and the problem ceased. Therefore, there could be some bottle variation to be had with this vintage. This bottle, however, was pristine, tasted at the chateau.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RPDelivers lots of tanned leather and spices, with very ripe fruit, from dried strawberry to raisin, turning to jam. Full-bodied, offering a very fresh palate of exotic fruit, currant and raisin as well as silky and polished tannins. So long and beautiful. Why wait? But it has a long life ahead. There is a lot of bottle variation in this wine due to TCA issues, but this is a beauty.—’89/’99 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2009). Drink now.Wine Spectator | 92 WSThe 1989 Ducru-Beaucaillou is showing some bricking on the rim, although the core remains quite dark. This has an attractive bouquet with lovely tobacco-infused black fruit and touches of black truffle and morels. There is something very gentle here but also intense. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin and a fine bead of acidity, a little meaty and bloody in style with maybe just a hint of brettanomyces toward the finish. But it seems to complement and enhance the wine. Tasted from an ex-cellar bottle at the château.Vinous Media | 90 VM