Wine
Vintage Charts
By Scott Miller
A vintage chart, in it's best presentation, is a useful guide to help the wine consumer
answer the questions “Is it any good?” and “When should I
drink it?”. There are a host of wine vintage charts available, ranging from
basic to comprehensive, from a single-palate perspective to
consensus ratings, and from well-known wine experts to the local
bottle shop's own charts. We've found the Vintage
Wine Ratings
Chart (derived from the Wine Enthusiast Vintage Chart) to be
one of the best.
In the world of wine, the term 'vintage' means the year that the
grapes were harvested. For a given wine-growing region, the
weather and growing conditions for the year are evaluated by
various 'experts' (winegrowers, winemakers, critics, etc.) and the learned opinions
are compiled into a 'score' which indicates the overall promise
for that region's vintage. A higher score suggests that the
winemakers will be more likely to produce wines of higher quality.
In the cases of Champagne and Port however, only the years which
are 'declared' by most producers are recognized as 'vintage' and
will feature the year of grape harvest on the bottle. (see
1997 Declaration.)
Vintage charts organize and display the scores for each region rated. The better
charts break down each country and region into subregions. Some
charts are based on a 100-point scale, others on a 10-point.
Sometimes the numbers are replaced with symbols that indicate if a
wine is ready to be drunk, or if it needs to age. There is a wide
range of chart styles, so be sure to read the key (if provided).
The charts are typically reviewed and updated on a yearly basis,
and any score is subject to change based on real-world tasting
notes as the vintages age.
It is important to remember that vintage charts are general in
nature. It is a truism that "some good wine is made in every bad year; likewise, some bad or
mediocre wines are made even in great years". With this in
mind, you may find them
most useful when considering aged wines, such as those available
at auctions, or even when choosing from unfamiliar
wines on a restaurant wine list. A comparison of red Bordeaux, for example, from
year to year may help one select a finer wine from the better
vintages, rather than risk a disappointment from the
more mediocre vintages.
Other Online Vintage Charts
Vintage Wine Ratings Chart
The
Wine Advocate's Vintage Guide (Robert Parker)
Wine
on the Web's Vintage Charts
Vintage-Charts.com
Wine
Today's Vintage Chart for Washington State Wines
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