winemaking Winemaking, wine-making, or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its Ethanol fermentation, fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over ...

, vintage is the process of picking grapes to create

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

. A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certain wines, it can denote quality, as in

Port wine Port wine (, ; ), or simply port, is a Portuguese wine, Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro, Douro Valley of Norte, Portugal, northern Portugal. It is typically a sweetness of wine, sweet red wine, often served with dessert wine, ...

, where Port houses make and declare vintage Port in their best years. From this tradition, a common, though not strictly correct, usage applies the term to any wine that is perceived to be particularly old or of a particularly high quality. Most countries allow a vintage wine to include a portion of wine that is not from the year denoted on the label. In Chile and South Africa, the requirement is 75% same-year content for vintage-dated wine. In Australia, New Zealand, and the member states of the European Union, the requirement is 85%. In the United States, the requirement is 85%, unless the wine is designated with an

AVA Ava or AVA may refer to: Places Asia and Oceania * Ava Kingdom, in upper Burma from 1364 to 1555 ** Inwa, formerly Ava, the capital of Ava Kingdom ** Earl of Ava, a British colonial earldom in Burma * Ava, Iran, Gilan Province, a village * Iva ...

, (e.g., Napa Valley), in which case it is 95%. Technically, the 85% rule in the United States applies equally to imports, but there are difficulties in enforcing the regulation. The opposite of a vintage wine is a ''nonvintage'' wine (often seen on a wine list as 'NV'), which is usually a blend from the produce of two or more years. This is a common practice for winemakers seeking a consistent style of wine, year on year.

Etymology

The word ''

vintage In winemaking, vintage is the process of picking grapes to create wine. A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certain wines, it can denote quality, as in Port wine ...

'' was first used in the early 15th century. It was adapted from the

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...

() deriving from the Latin (), in turn coming from () and ().

Importance of vintage

The importance assigned to vintage is both varied and disputed. For wine produced in regions at the colder climatic limits of wine production, vintage can be very important, because some seasons will be much warmer and produce riper grapes and better wine. On the other hand, a poor growing season can lead to grapes failing to reach optimal ripeness, resulting in grape juice that is higher in acid and lower in sugar, which affects the quality of the resulting wine. In many wine regions, especially in the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

, growing seasons are much more uniform. In dry regions, the systematic and controlled use of

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

also contributes to uniform vintages. However, such wines are regularly labeled by vintage because of consumer demand. Wines of superior vintages from prestigious producers and regions will often command much higher prices than those from average vintages. This is especially the case if wines are likely to improve further with some age in the bottle. Some wines are only labeled with a vintage in better-than-average years, to maintain their quality and reputation, while the vast majority of wines are produced to be drunk young and fresh. In such cases, a vintage is usually considered less important. However, it can serve to protect consumers against buying a wine that would not be expected to improve with age and could be past its best, such as with

Beaujolais nouveau Beaujolais nouveau ( , ) is a red wine made from Gamay grapes produced in the Beaujolais region of France. It is a '' vin de primeur'', fermented just a few weeks before being released for sale on the third Thursday of November. Distributors co ...

, a wine style made to be consumed within months of its bottling. The importance of vintage may sometimes be exaggerated. For example, ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wine columnist Frank J. Prial declared the vintage chart to be dead, writing that "winemakers of the world have rendered the vintage chart obsolete"; Bill Marsano wrote that "winemakers now have the technology and skills to make good and even very good wines in undistinguished years".

James Laube James Laube ( , 1951 or 1952 – March 22, 2025) was an American wine critic, writing for ''Wine Spectator'' since 1980, a full-time staff writer from 1983 on, with expertise on California wine. Laube had published the books ''California's Great ...

of ''

Wine Spectator ''Wine Spectator'' is an American lifestyle magazine that focuses on wine, wine culture and wine ratings. It is the flagship publication of M. Shanken Communications, which also publishes ''Cigar Aficionado'', ''Whisky Advocate'', ''Market Watch' ...

'' has asserted that "even an average vintage can yield some grand wines".

Weil blind tastings

Roman Weil, co-chairman of the Oenonomy Society of the US and professor at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, tested the controversial hypothesis that experienced wine drinkers "cannot distinguish in

blind tasting In marketing, a blind taste test is often used as a tool for companies to compare their brand to another brand. For example, the Pepsi Challenge is a famous taste test that has been run by Pepsi since 1975. Additionally, taste tests are sometimes ...

s the wine of years rated high from those of years rated low, or, if they can, they do not agree with the vintage chart's preferences". Weil used wines ranging from four to 17 years beyond their vintage with 240 wine drinkers and found that the tasters could not distinguish between wines of good and bad vintages except for

Bordeaux wine Bordeaux wine (; ) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city, the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the broad estuary called the Gironde; the Gi ...

s.Parker v. Prial: The Death of the Vintage Chart
Roman L. Weil, 5/25/2001 Even when they could make a distinction, the match between the tasters' individual assessments and the charts' rankings were little better than

tossing a coin Coin flipping, coin tossing, or heads or tails is using the thumb to make a coin go up while spinning in the air and checking obverse and reverse, which side is showing when it is down onto a surface, in order to randomly choose between two alter ...

. When the tests were replicated with wine experts, including

French wine French wine is produced throughout all of France in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world. French wine traces its history to th ...

academics, the results were again the same as chance. Weil does not consider a vintage chart to be useless. He suggests using one to help "find good buys in wine", as wine made in years considered to be worse than average for vintages may be priced far below its actual quality.

Miscellaneous

*In

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, wine regulators publish official classifications of each vintage. *A common Bordelais saying is "The best vintage is the vintage we have to sell"Greene, Joshua. "Bordeaux 2005". ''Wine & Spirits'', June 2006, 25(3), 24–26.

References

External links

*
Ribeiro Denomination of OriginThe Decanter's Vintage Guides
{{Winemaking Viticulture Wine terminology