Vintage Notes

Of the five major factors affecting the different aromas and tastes in wine (variety, vineyard, vintage, vineyard practice and wine-making), vintage refers to the weather conditions through the vine’s growing period that will affect both the quality and quantity of wine produced in any given year.

Each grape variety needs slightly different weather conditions to achieve optimal ripeness of the grapes.  In general, to produce high quality wine, a vine needs a cold, wet winter and a warm, dry summer with plenty of sunshine.  In tropical conditions a grape vine is too prolific and produces wines without flavour.  If too cold, vines will die.  Hence all the major wine-growing regions of the world are found between 30 and 50 degrees in the Northern and Southern hemispheres.

Within these climatic bands the key problems associated with vintage are:

• spring frost, which can cause damage to the buds resulting in a lower crop;

• summer hail, which can result in more than half the crop being lost;

• drought conditions, where no water combined with hot temperatures cause the vine to stop producing sugar in the grape; and,

• high rainfall at harvest, which is the biggest problem for quality grapes as rain results in dilution of sugars and flavours and can lead to grape rot. 

Some regions experience more variable weather conditions than others, so vintage is a bigger factor in the quality of the wine.  In many hot, dry regions wineries can overcome the key problem of drought with irrigation, so in those regions vintage variation is not a big issue.  In Burgundy a heat-wave in 2003 was followed by cold, humid 2004, with both vintages considered below average quality.  Interestingly, most of the 2003 red Burgundies I have tasted I would rate as superior to more normal vintages, which goes to show that until you taste the wines for yourself you should treat the conventional wisdom with caution.  Vintage charts, which aim to summarise the quality of vintage in the form of a rating are a particularly dubious aid.  Most are produced by non independent sources with a vested interest in trying to sell the most recent vintages, and even in a so-called “bad” year there will be good wineries that sort their fruit thoroughly and produce delicious and interesting wine.

At Summertown Wine Café we have detailed tasting notes, including a vintage summary on all the wines, so if you want to taste the effect of vintage for yourself come along and do a tasting anytime.

Rob Malcolm