Do you also have that wine enthusiast friend who always "specially introduces" that bottle of wine from a specific vintage at gatherings, as if the quality of wine produced in a specific year is always better and therefore more expensive?
How much does the vintage affect wine?
In simple terms, it affects it a lot!
The vintage primarily represents the unique climatic conditions of a grape-growing region in a given year, as the raw material for wine is essentially grapes, which are agricultural products.
The temperature, timing and amount of rainfall, and occurrences of natural disasters within a year all affect the growth and harvest of grapes.
Ideally, grapes thrive in conditions that are neither too hot nor too cold, with a cool climate but sufficient sunlight, moderate rainfall, and dryness maintained during the growing season (summer) and before harvest (autumn).
This ensures that the grapes reach optimal flavor and sugar levels.
Conversely, if a year is too cool with insufficient sunlight, or experiences excessive rainfall before or during harvest, grapes struggle to ripen, resulting in diluted flavor and possibly high, unbalanced acidity and tannins, as well as susceptibility to mold.
Similarly, excessively hot weather can cause grapes to overripen or even suffer from "sunburn," leading to wines with overly pronounced alcohol content.
There are numerous factors that can affect grapes, such as early spring frost, hail, strong winds, forest wildfires, untimely rain during flowering or ripening, all of which have a significant impact on the raw material for wine, namely grapes.
Good vintages can maximize the potential of grapes, yielding wines with more complex aromas and flavors.
So when people rave about a 1982 Lafite, it's not without reason, especially in cool and rainy maritime regions.
A classic example is Bordeaux, France, where untimely autumn rains and frost are common, making the differences in yield and quality between vintages more pronounced.
Exceptional vintages such as:
1982
1990
2000
2005
2009
2010
2015
2016
Grapes grown in a favorable vintage tend to have good ripeness and concentrated flavors while maintaining balanced high acidity and tannins.
It's important to note that generally expensive red and white wines are very high in acidity and tannins when they are first released because for a wine to withstand the test of time, it needs sufficient tannins and acidity to provide structure.
Over decades, or even centuries of aging, the tight tannins will slowly soften and smooth out, gradually precipitating and settling, while the acidity will slowly release crystalline tartaric acid.
Two bottles of the same brand of wine can differ greatly in price due to different vintages!
But does a bad vintage mean the wine is beyond redemption? Not entirely. Wineries typically resort to reducing yields even in bad years to enhance the maturity of the fruit and maintain quality.
Moreover, it is during "ordinary" years that the prowess of a top-tier winery is truly tested.
The winery's choice of harvest timing and winemaking techniques can demonstrate its ability to maintain a certain standard regardless of the vintage.
