Vintage
Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. The grape harvest is upon us and by all indications it will be a good one here in my home state of
When it comes to wine, the reference to the wine’s vintage is often a reference to quality or lack thereof, and with good reason. First of all the vintage or year stated on a bottle of wine is letting you know the year in which the grapes were grown and harvested not the year the wine was put into the bottle. For example; this year a harvest of Cabernet Sauvignon may be made into wine and then allowed to age in the barrel for two years before it is put into bottles. So the vintage is 2009 even though it is not bottled until 2011 or 2012. The reason we pay so much attention to the year of the harvest is because the weather during the growing season contributes so very much to the quality of the fruit. As in any agriculturally based industry the producers of great wines are dependent upon harvest of high quality grapes, not necessarily quantity of grapes, but quality of grapes. The references to unique places in which grapes are grown and the vineyards designated on many labels are indications to how vital the fruit is to the end product. As we all know it is impossible to make truly great wine with low quality fruit. So the vintage is telling us the year the grapes were grown. If we know that was a good growing season then chances are the wine is likely good as well. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at vine to wine dot net, and thanks for joining me on today’s Vine to Wine.
