WineLife365

 I’ve studied wine for about 15 years and like a lot of other wine geeks, I’m always curious to see what the “respected” wine writers think of each vintage in each wine growing region of the world.  But does this rating of the vintage year really matter?  And is it truly indicative of whether or not a particular wine will taste good or bad based on the year it was made?  The answer in my opinion is Yes…and No.  But it’s probably more No than Yes.

The “vintage” is a fancy wine term that lets consumers know when a wine’s grapes were harvested and bottled.  Nearly all bottles of wine produced will list the year in which the grapes were harvested and bottled.

But is the “vintage” date important when considering buying a particular wine?  If weather conditions are extreme in a particular region in a given year then sure, the wines as a whole may not be so good that year.  But if the weather conditions are typical in a given region then I tend to think that vintage is not as critical when considering whether or not to purchase a particular wine.

In my opinion, the special vintage charts are really for the wine collectors to use as a tool or guide to help them make a more informed buying decision.  Because of the amount of money that these folks are willing to pay for some precious juices, they want to be certain that they understand the “terms and conditions” of what it is that they’re considering to purchase.

Folks like you and me, buying the everyday stuff, should be less worried or interested in these charts, unless Mother Nature has really played a terrible number on a particular wine region.  Today’s winemakers are well-educated, and technical advancements in the winemaking process have helped wineries around the globe compensate for nasty weather.

So if you’re buying wines for less than $20, I wouldn’t put a whole lot of stock into those fancy vintage charts that the large wine publications like Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, and Robert Parker put out each year.