It Was A Very Good Year...

Weather has a huge impact on wine. Severe weather can damage vines, and the temperature and the sun in a given region impact the flavor and character of grapes. Though winemakers may have the technical means to compensate for inferior years, no tweaked wine can surpass a well-made wine from superior raw materials. This is why vintage charts remain important in spite of technology and the improvements in mass-produced wine.

The information in Gudrun's Simplified Vintage Chart is gleaned from a number of sources (for, as I said in my previous post, I can't drink 35 bottles of wine a day). It includes only those vintages that you are still likely to find in the stores you might visit. It also includes vintages from areas not often included in charts (such as Austria where Michele's favorite wine comes from, a wine that is full-bodied and flavorful, not at all resembling the German wines that have simlar names). Unfortunately, I can't find current charts on lesser known North American vintages: those from the Great lakes region - Michigan, Ohio, and the Niagara Falls area - and from the Finger Lakes area, the Hudson Valley, and Long Island in New York.* Wine is now produced in all 50 states, and most ppl don't realize that, prior to 1850, the nation's leading wine-producing state was... Ohio, LOL.

Most vintage charts also provide an indication of when to "hold" a wine vs. when to drink it. Assisted by Mother Nature's effect on the way the grapes happened to grow, I have simplified this decison as well, at least for the time being and until there are new vintages to be considered. In general, for the years in this chart, you should hold your Bordeaux, Burgundies, and Rhones, and drink everything else (though of course you can drink the others too if you want to and have absolutely no self-control).

Incidentally, the blending of young wine with a selection of older reserve wines is the bais of most Champagne making. Only about 10 percent of Champagne is vintage dated, and this typically indicates an exceptional wine. This might be an example that producers in other regions could perhaps follow. A good bottle of Champagne in a specific style can always be had. Also, Champagne tends to keep for a very long time.

*NB ~ Anthony J. Hawkins did a comprehensive chart of North American wine (and the world), but it ended in 2002 and I haven't yet found an up-to-date chart for these regions :=( If anyone has one, please share it with me.