Vintage Weather
1996 across the wine world
Every region on record for 1996, read the same way: temperature, rain, harvest timing, and the events that shaped the season.
A cool, late season rewarded patience with elegant, long-lived South Australian reds.
Harvested autumn 1996
A late-August storm spared the northern Medoc, giving a classic Left Bank year.
Very high natural acidity defined both the age-worthy reds and premox-troubled whites.
A wild, see-saw season produced Champagne's rare high-sugar, high-acid marvel.
A mild wet winter and cool harvest gave firm, average-quality wines.
Cold flowering and hail made for a lean, high-acid, classically structured year.
A rescued wet spring gave way to a long, sunny, balanced autumn.
A promising, balanced season undone by heavy rain right before harvest.
A hot August and low yields produced rich, seductive, ripe wines.
Oregon's wettest year on record still produced rich, structured Pinot.
Spring berry shatter and summer heat spikes made a concentrated sleeper year.