Vintage Weather
1988 across the wine world
Every region on record for 1988, read the same way: temperature, rain, harvest timing, and the events that shaped the season.
A very wet spring brought heavy mildew pressure, but the reds stayed graceful.
High acidity and firm tannins made an austere, backward, but age-worthy vintage.
Mild, measured ripening produced fresh, taut, remarkably age-worthy wine.
Hail cut Cote-Rotie yields, but a hot summer built ripe, ageworthy wines.
A rainy August and September gave way to a warm October that rewarded patient growers.
A rain-plagued spring turned hot, but October rain hurt Barolo.
Rain-cut yields and a hot, dry summer made concentrated, age-worthy wines.
No rain and near-27C heat caused 50 to 70 percent crop losses.
Cool summer and harvest rain made a difficult, inconsistent vintage.
Drought-driven boron deficiency slashed yields but concentrated fine fruit.
A textbook warm season produced ripe, structured reds with real aging potential.