The 1990 vintage is really a wine to keep for another three or so years, this wine is showing brilliant developement but could use some more time-see my Overall comments.

Climatically the 1990 vintage was remarkably similar to 1989, and after a damp but mild winter the buds burst about a month earlier than either 1989 or 1988. Due to this the vineyards were at risk from spring frosts, which hit on the 5th and 19th of April, affecting 12,000 hectares. The flowering came in the first two weeks of June in cooler weather. Summer hit in July. The amount of sunshine during the summer however was the most recordered in 30 years. With a few exceptions the qulaity of grapes were outstanding.

The 1990 VR is made from a blend of 17 differant crus, all classed as Grand or Premier. The wine was made up of about 56% pinot with 11% being Meunier.

Colour: Subtle gold, with a little pink note. The bubbles last and develope very well.
Nose: Incredibly rich and developed ripe fruit particularly pineapple and apricots with some dried figgy characters with light hazel nut tones ass well.
Palate: Incredibly structure and viscosity for such a wine. The viscosity is well balanced by the acids. The finish goes on and on.
Overall: I would've had a hard time picking this as a 12 year old wine. It's balance, dominating acids and fruit and evervescence would suggest a much younger wine. it needs another five years at least.