Vintage

A wine’s vintage of may be the most important aspect that separates it from any other alcoholic beverage; it is what provides the unique expression of each bottle of wine you enjoy.

What exactly is it?

The vintage is the year stated on a bottle of wine. The year on each bottle of wine indicates the growing season of the grapes that were used in the wine and when the grapes were harvested.

Vintage plays a significant role in wine quality, as weather conditions during the growing season can greatly impact grape development, and ultimately the flavor and aroma of the wine. In good conditions, wines from a specific vintage can develop complex flavors and aromas that are unique to that year. Wineries will typically include the vintage year on the bottle's label to allow consumers to identify the year the grapes were harvested and assess the potential quality of the wine.

The grape-growing season consists of 4 key stages; bud break, flowering, veraison, and harvest (there is a fifth stage, dormancy, which exists after the grapes are harvested). If the weather is ideal during each of these cycles, the quality of the vintage will be outstanding. On the opposite side, if there is rain during harvest time of frost during bud break, a vintage can be severely at risk of yielding compromised quality of fruit.

TAKE NOTE!

It is important to note that wine quality can vary widely between different vintages, so it is worth paying attention to the vintage year when selecting a bottle. Whether it is cooler or warmer temperatures, drought or high rainfall, hail or frost, all of these weather factors will influence the grapes on the vine. This is why a bottle of wine with a different vintage from the same producer will always be slightly different.

There is one type of wine, sparkling wine, that is mostly non-vintage or NV on the label. Close to 90% of all sparkling wine around the world is non-vintage. What this designation represents is a blend of two or more vintages to make a “house style” that is consistent flavor year to year.

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