The vintage on the wine bottle does not indicate the year in which it was bottled, but the year in which the grapes from which the wine was made were harvested. Here you can find out how the vintage influences a wine and other factors that are important for the quality of the grape juice.
But because there is no rule without exception in the world of wine, the above statement is only true in 99 percent of all cases. For example, when producing ice wine in Central Europe, it can happen that the grapes remain on the vine until January or February of the following year; and if the harvest does not take place until then, the wine will still bear the vintage in which the regular harvest took place on the label.
What else influences the wine besides the vintage?
Alongside the region and the winemaker, the vintage is one of the most important criteria when it comes to assessing the quality of a wine. Even the best winegrowers can’t work magic and produce at most decent wine in weak years; on the other hand, some vineyards can guarantee good wine even in weaker years.
The vintage on the wine bottle does not indicate the year in which it was bottled, but the year in which the grapes from which the wine was made were harvested.
No rule without exception
The above statement is only true in 99 percent of all cases. In Central Europe, for example, when producing ice wine, the grapes may remain on the vine until January or February of the following year, producing at most a good wine. On the other hand, some sites can guarantee good wine even in weaker years.
What most people remember most about the past few years is whether the summer was nice and hot and whether the winter brought a white Christmas; both have little influence on the quality of the wine. The vines produce fully ripe grapes even in rather cool summers, as long as the fall is mild and reasonably dry. The time of flowering also plays a major role. A warm April and May, then a cool and gray June to September and a golden autumn is remembered by most Central Europeans as a horrible year; yet this combination of weather can produce perfect wine. On the other hand, events such as heavy rain, hail or storms can have extremely devastating effects without being immediately reported in the newspapers.
In summary, the time of flowering, the amount of rainfall and the temperature play the main roles when it comes to the quality of the vintage.
Grapes – the divas!
From this it can be deduced that in hot, dry regions such as southern Italy or parts of Spain, where a cool year means that the thermometer reads 33 instead of 37 degrees in summer and even a few drops of rain in July go down in the history books, the importance of the vintage on the label is not very significant. However, it can be said that such regions are usually also the home of less complex, palatable and easy-to-drink wines. The world’s great wines are usually characterized by a fine acidity structure, which cannot develop at all in regions that are too hot. The demanding grapes want to ripen for a long time at moderate temperatures (Cabernet Sauvignon and Riesling in particular have slightly diva-like airs and graces) and the longer the growing season lasts, the more influential and important the fall weather becomes. With early-ripening grapes such as Chardonnay or Pinot Noir, it is mainly wines from the cooler wine regions that achieve world fame. Burgenland, Champagne or Bordeaux, for example. In Champagne , the difference between a cool and a hot year is enormous and the influence of the vintage on the quality of the wine is correspondingly great.
That is why the vintage is an important indicator for assessing the quality of the wine. However, it is not enough to simply remember whether the summer was hot and long. And of course there are exceptional situations here too: the little-noticed site in the shady side valley, which is considered to be of inferior quality, which delivers exceptional quality in years that are actually too hot, or the steep slope whose vines are constantly threatening to dry out because the soil cannot hold the water and which is now suddenly producing the finest wines because of the rainy summer.
At this point I recommend “vintage tables”, which you can obtain from your trusted wine merchant.
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