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We’ve all heard of vintage wines, but what are they and what makes them special?

 

Technically, a wine’s vintage is another word for the year or growing season the grapes were grown and harvested.  To be called a “vintage wine,” the majority of a wine’s grapes were grown and harvested in one particular year.

 

You’ll often see the vintage year listed on a bottle of wine or overhear someone refer to a particular wine as coming from “a good year.” This means the commenter feels this year had particularly ideal conditions for that specific growing region, conditions which favorably influenced the flavor and character of the grapes and wine.

 

In order for a wine to be considered a vintage wine in the United States, 85 percent of the grapes used must have been grown in a single year or season. If the wine is from a particular American Viticultural Area, then 95 percent of the grapes must have been grown in the same year in order to be considered a vintage wine. A non-vintage wine simply means the wine is a blend of wines made from different years of harvest, but the vast majority of California wine is vintage wine.

 

So the big question is, are there noticeable differences from one vintage to the next? The not-so-simple answer is “sometimes.”

 

It really depends on the wine-grape growing region in question. In regions that are prone to humidity, harvest-time rain, or extremely cold or windy conditions during critical growth stages for the vines, vintage can be of greater importance, as those conditions can affect the quality of the grapes and wine. Cold snaps, summer rains and other conditions tend to be more common in some of the “Old World” growing regions in Europe, which is probably why the idea of good and bad vintages came about in the first place.

 

In California, each growing season is different, but weather conditions are much more consistent than in other areas of the country and world, so vintages do not vary as dramatically as in other parts of the U.S. or Europe. That said, there are plenty of variables that go into each growing season and each can impart unique characteristics to the grapes and the final bottle of wine.

 

While the importance of vintage will be debated for as long as people enjoy and study wine, the most important indicator of quality is the flavor and characteristic of the grapes and the quality of the vineyards in which they are grown.

 

Learn more about the quality of California vineyards and the growers who care for them.