29 May What is a vintage wine?
Vintage 1967 Bertani Amarone from Veneto, Italy
A vintage wine is a wine comprised of grapes harvested within a specific year. If there is a year listed on the wine bottle then it is considered a vintage. The grapes harvested in a particular year are usually bottled together so that each bottle produced by that vineyard reflects that year’s harvest, flavor and quality.
Weather has a strong role in the characteristics of the harvested grapes, thus affecting the flavor of the wines. So each vintage, even from the same vineyard, will have its own distinct flavors and characteristics. A fantastic growing season makes for a better vintage, a poor growing season might produce grapes with a lower sugar content and which can lead to a lower quality wine.
Age does not necessarily play a factor in determining the quality of the wine; it simply informs you of the year the grapes were harvested. An older vintage does not always mean a better wine. If the younger grapes were from an exceptional growing season then that wine will almost always be better than a vintage created from grapes during a poor growing season. Many vintages do improve with age. Wine critics, like “The Wine Advocate”, release vintage charts that will help guide you to the best vintages, how long they can be aged and when to drink them.
Many times the vintage year is unimportant as many wines produced today are built to be drunk young and fresh. These wines will not improve with age and their quality may deteriorate. In these cases the vintage is only important to let you know if the wine would be beyond its prime.
Overall, what matters most are your personal preference and your intentions for the wine. If the wine is to be stored in a collection for a while then it is suggested that research is done to ensure that the chosen bottle will age well. However, if the bottle is to be consumed within a matter of months or tonight the winery or vineyard itself should play a larger role in your decision.