What Makes Wine a Vintage Wine?
The vintage of a wine refers to the harvest year of the grapes used to make it. Bottle labels note vintages, but the year alone doesn't determine quality. The winemaker's skills and production methods also influence the quality of a wine.
-
Identification
-
Generally speaking, vintners use grapes primarily from a single vintage to make wine. If you know about the weather pattern in the vintage year, you'll understand some things about a wine without even tasting it. Sometimes, however, a winemaker mixes grapes from different vintages to create consistent results, as with sparkling wines and port.
Geography
-
Grape varieties taste differently depending on where they're grown, an effect known as "terroir" in wine terms, and so does the wine they produce. Stable weather patterns in some regions lead to consistent wine quality from year to year. Vintage charts summarize the overall quality of wines produced in a given region each year and are helpful guides for purchasing decisions.
Considerations
-
The mere fact that a wine label includes a vintage notation does not mean that the wine is of good quality. Vintage is just one factor to consider when buying wine. Today some winemakers use "international-style" production methods to produce wine that tastes the same no matter where the grapes are grown. Good winemakers can often make good wine from inferior grapes, and winemakers with less skill may produce mediocre wine from the best grapes.
-
Related Searches
References
- Photo Credit bottle wine and glasses with a wine image by mashe from Fotolia.com
