A number of non-wine drinkers have been thrown by a common misconception about Vintage Wine. Many think that labeling it Vintage automatically means ‘old’ and high quality, however this does not always ring true. A Vintage wine is a wine that has been produced using grapes grown and harvested in one particular year.
The confusion may have originated from producers of Port, which is made using grapes from only a single year, which is later analyzed to see which years were particularly good. These are then labeled as ‘Vintage Ports’ and denote which were particularly good years for harvest and quality.
Vintage wines share some similarities, however it does translate directly across. Like Port, Vintage wines are made using only the grapes from a particular year, however this does not guarantee that the wine will be of higher quality. Usually the wines are released for sale and the wine community discusses and works out which of the wines are exceptionally good.
Vintage wines do not have to consist of 100% of grapes from one particular year. Some wines originating from South Africa or Chilie are only required to consist of 75% same year grapes. In other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, America and the EU, they are required to be 85% and up.
The regular types of wine, known as simply ‘non-vintage wines’ utilize harvests from two or more years. Some wineries use this method to create wines with consistent tastes and quality.
In the past, vintage wines were prized and did have different qualities and tastes according to the years they were grown, however modern farming techniques and irrigation now lets most wineries grow consistent crops, but the debate over quality still continues to this day.
Follow the link for more information on vintage wines.
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This post was written by wine on May 25, 2009
