The Ride Inside

In today’s post I will be discussing  the importance of a wine’s vintage in relation to this question asked by Joe S. ,”The knowledge area I have the least expertise in is knowing which vintage of a wine are “drink now” and which need to be aged. Can you please speak to this issue in future postings.”

A wine’s vintage can be a very important factor in determining when the right time has come to pop that special bottle or even in buying a particular wine.  Most bottles of wine that you come across will have a year printed on the label.  There will be exceptions to this rule like for some non-vintage (NV) champagnes and some “jug” wines.  The year  that is printed on the label is the vintage for that particular wine which means that the grapes were harvested in that year.

“Wine is sunlight held together by water.” – Galileo Galilei.

This is one of my favorite wine quotes because it is so   simple yet undeniably true.  It basically says that all wines are products of their environment.  The weather where the grapes are grown ultimately determines the quality of the wine produced that year.   A philosophy that I ascribe myself to is that great wines are made in the vineyard, not in the winery.  The reason why some vintages of a particular wine are better than others has to do with the weather of that year.  In order to produce a great wine all factors in relation to weather must be in perfect balance.  Most important are the day/night temperatures and the amount of rain that the vines receive. A perfectly balanced vintage along with other factors can create a wine that has the capability of living for at least 20 years. In the realm of vintages, basically four types exist: balanced, too hot, too cold, and too much rain.  However, we all know that the climate in California is going to  be different than weather in France, so one must take into account that climate in a vintage is only relative to the location of where the grapes are grown.

A too hot of a vintage ripens the grapes too fast.  Grapes need a long steady maturation in order for the acids, sugars, and tannins to be in the right balance. Imagine for example you are cooking a stew.  So instead of slow cooking the stew for a couple of hours you put all the ingredients in the pot at one time and put the flame on high for 30 minutes.  We all know that this stew will taste like garbage.  The flavors would not have had enough time to develop and some parts would probably be burnt and what not.  Well this is what happens in grapes as well.  The sugars develop really fast while the tannins and acids take the back seat.  The resulting wine will be very fruity but will not have the other ingredients to make a balanced product.  Hot vintages like those of 2003, which happened to affect most wines produced in that year, will produce  a wine with a lower than average cellaring capabilty, due to the lack of acid and tannin.

In a vintage that is too cold, the grapes do not fully mature leaving them with a high acid/ low sugar content and a “greenish” quality in the tannins.  These wines are very tart and would be like tasting an unripe fruit in simple terms.

Grape vines typically produce their best fruit when they under some stress. A year that is too rainy makes it too easy for the vines to produce grapes.  The grapes then become diluted with water and lack flavor and concentration.  Rains are especially bad right before or during a harvest.  The vines suck up the rain and the grapes take on a certain wateryness, <—-this is definitely not a word, which again dilutes the flavor of the grape.  Ever eat a fruit with no flavor?   The same thing can happen in wine.

So with all this being said, when is the right time to drink a wine and which vintages should I buy?  Most wines on the shelves are ready to drink now or within a couple of years of the vintage.   It would be impossible to list drink dates for all wines from around the world.  Usually the more expensive wines need some time to mature before being opened depending on the year.  If anyone has a bottle like this just let me know and I will  tell you when to pop it.