Wine Vintages, do they matter?
Crush. The word springs hope eternal for wine lovers. Will this harvest yield grapes of superior quality? What about the quantity? Is this the vintage I should invest in, or is it one to avoid?
With each new year the grapes have been affected by variables as diverse as hail, rains, and burning sun. Variability is the key here, each year's challenges and successes shape the character of the wines to be. With modern winemaking, changing styles and the seeming unendingly sunny days of regions like California, how much does vintage really matter anymore?
In an earlier draft of this blog I wrote a dozen paragraphs explaining all of the variables that can effect a vintage. I explored technical details of the winemaking and even grape growing process. I had a great time punching keys and listening to how clever my inner dialog was, but I didn't really answer the question.
Besides being a potentially unwelcome foray into the way my mind works, the first draft pointed out something important for me. This is not as easy a question to answer as I had hoped.
The short answer is that vintages count more in some regions than in others. This is nothing new. Wine writers have been saying this for decades, so what has changed? A lot.
There are regions that didn't even exist a decade ago, especially in places like South America. Many of these wine growing locals were picked expressly because they are not subject to great variations in weather.
There are styles of wine, light and fruity being paramount, that did not exist a decade ago. Changing tastes and improved technology have allowed for these wines to be produced around the world, and they too are not often affected by vintage variation.
Speaking of improving technology, this too has helped to mitigate the effects of an unpredictable growing season.
Regions such as Burgundy in France have always been subject to wildly fluctuating years. And while some blame global warming (or thank it, depending on your point of view) I feel that improvements in winemaking control has been the biggest contributor to the evening out of the peaks and valleys of quality.
California is famed for having near perfect growing conditions. Indeed, a truly poor year in any of the myriad growing areas around the state is almost unheard of. Too much of a good thing used to be the biggest problem with California's vineyards, but great strides have been made in vineyard management to lessen the dangers of the ever present sun.
The trepidation some feel towards improving technology and the globalization of taste, is that the product that they yield will protect us from poor quality at the cost of the occasional bouts of exceptional quality. I don't share this fear for one overwhelming reason; the winemaker.
As long as people are in control of the final product, wine will always retain a degree of character. There will always be something to distinguish one wine from another, if for no other reason that people all have differing tastes. A completely automated process might be able to make the same wine from any vintage, or any region, but there will always be enough smaller producers fighting to keep their individuality.
The vintage game can be hit or miss. People that buy futures and invest in wine have the most to lose from an off year, but also the most to gain from the rare perfect vintage. Most of us can skip the vintage charts when drinking our favorite wines, and only bring them out when the prices start to equal a car payment.
If you exclusively drink Burgundy, Mosels and Rhines, or even Bordeaux, than yes, vintages count. For most other wine lovers vintages are just one more thing that keeps wine exciting and unpredictable.
1987 was not a great year for Bordeaux on most vintage charts. I was working as a wine steward when the 1987 vintage was released. I sold as much 1987 Ch. Mouton as I could get my hands on. It was well priced, approachable young, and surprisingly good. So while it is true that choosing a poor vintage may lead to disappointment, it may be equally true that eschewing a vintage may lead to a missed opportunity.
With each new year the grapes have been affected by variables as diverse as hail, rains, and burning sun. Variability is the key here, each year's challenges and successes shape the character of the wines to be. With modern winemaking, changing styles and the seeming unendingly sunny days of regions like California, how much does vintage really matter anymore?
In an earlier draft of this blog I wrote a dozen paragraphs explaining all of the variables that can effect a vintage. I explored technical details of the winemaking and even grape growing process. I had a great time punching keys and listening to how clever my inner dialog was, but I didn't really answer the question.
Besides being a potentially unwelcome foray into the way my mind works, the first draft pointed out something important for me. This is not as easy a question to answer as I had hoped.
The short answer is that vintages count more in some regions than in others. This is nothing new. Wine writers have been saying this for decades, so what has changed? A lot.
There are regions that didn't even exist a decade ago, especially in places like South America. Many of these wine growing locals were picked expressly because they are not subject to great variations in weather.
There are styles of wine, light and fruity being paramount, that did not exist a decade ago. Changing tastes and improved technology have allowed for these wines to be produced around the world, and they too are not often affected by vintage variation.
Speaking of improving technology, this too has helped to mitigate the effects of an unpredictable growing season.
Regions such as Burgundy in France have always been subject to wildly fluctuating years. And while some blame global warming (or thank it, depending on your point of view) I feel that improvements in winemaking control has been the biggest contributor to the evening out of the peaks and valleys of quality.
California is famed for having near perfect growing conditions. Indeed, a truly poor year in any of the myriad growing areas around the state is almost unheard of. Too much of a good thing used to be the biggest problem with California's vineyards, but great strides have been made in vineyard management to lessen the dangers of the ever present sun.
The trepidation some feel towards improving technology and the globalization of taste, is that the product that they yield will protect us from poor quality at the cost of the occasional bouts of exceptional quality. I don't share this fear for one overwhelming reason; the winemaker.
As long as people are in control of the final product, wine will always retain a degree of character. There will always be something to distinguish one wine from another, if for no other reason that people all have differing tastes. A completely automated process might be able to make the same wine from any vintage, or any region, but there will always be enough smaller producers fighting to keep their individuality.
The vintage game can be hit or miss. People that buy futures and invest in wine have the most to lose from an off year, but also the most to gain from the rare perfect vintage. Most of us can skip the vintage charts when drinking our favorite wines, and only bring them out when the prices start to equal a car payment.
If you exclusively drink Burgundy, Mosels and Rhines, or even Bordeaux, than yes, vintages count. For most other wine lovers vintages are just one more thing that keeps wine exciting and unpredictable.
1987 was not a great year for Bordeaux on most vintage charts. I was working as a wine steward when the 1987 vintage was released. I sold as much 1987 Ch. Mouton as I could get my hands on. It was well priced, approachable young, and surprisingly good. So while it is true that choosing a poor vintage may lead to disappointment, it may be equally true that eschewing a vintage may lead to a missed opportunity.
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