Sat May 17th 2008

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An Introduction to Vintage Charts for Wine

Producing, drinking and storing w ine is an art that comes with unique techniques, technology and rules. While wine, like art, can be very subjective, wine connoisseurs have laid out some general guidelines to help classify various types of wine.

What makes a wine not just good, but exceptional? The best wines balance the sweetness and acidity of the grapes.

Climate changes, regional or seasonal, affect the taste of the grapes. A good growing season will produce a better tasting grape and ultimately a better wine. As a result, each year the wine, or vintage, may taste different because the harvested grapes are different.

In the best wines the sweetness of the grapes is balanced with the acidity. As weather conditions around the world vary, the climate changes affect the taste of the grapes. A good growing season will produce a better tasting grape, and ultimately a better wine. As a result, each year the wine, or vintage, may taste different because the grapes are different.

Understanding Vintage Charts
Wine charts are often divided into sections according to regions that share both general climatic profile and soil composition. For example, all the wines from the Bordeaux region of France are grouped together since they share the same climate. These wines are then ordered according to each year in which they were produced.

Vintage charts also grade wines, scaling them with a certain number. The wine is given a grade based on its taste, aroma, balance and other qualities along a point scale. While some charts are based on a 100-point scale, others work with on a 10-point system.

The Pros and Cons of Charts
Vintage charts offer wine drinkers a lot of information, including details on when and where the wine was made. Similarly, they grade the wine, letting you know which wines are better than the others. However, although these charts have a number of advantages, they do have some drawbacks.

Wines are rated based on an expert’s palate, meaning that the assigned number is still a subjective measure of quality. Because different people have different flavor preferences, vintage charts should be considered a guide, rather than an absolute standard of wine quality.

Rating Italian Wines
Although French and Spanish wines are quite popular today, the rating systems associated with them were adopted from the standards Italy first set into place. In fact, modern practices of categorizing wine according to the region in which it was produced was an Italian innovation.

However, not all of the Italian methods have translated to international vintage charts. Others, such as the denotations “DOC” and “IGT,” are still uniquely Italian distinctions.

For the Connoisseur…
Whether you are an amateur looking to enhance your knowledge or an experienced sommelier, learning the facets of vintage wine charts can improve your choices. In fact, a seasoned connoisseur should be familiar with the years in which specific wines were better or worse. This knowledge will lend any budding enthusiast enormous credibility.

Bordeaux Vintage Charts
The Bordeaux region of France has long been famous for producing wonderful, high-quality wines. Located close to the ocean, this wine-producing region is noted for its humid climate and moister soil. Similarly, its temperate climate (warm summers and mild winters) allows the winemakers of Bordeaux to produce wine year round. In fact, experts estimate that Bordeaux produces around 700 million bottles of wine each year.

Burgundy Charts
Burgundy is another famous wine-producing region in France. Given its distinct climate and soil conditions, the Burgundy region mainly produces Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes.

Champagne Vintage Charts
Like Bordeaux and Burgundy, Champagne is a renown French region known to produce its own distinct wines. In fact, the bubbly that we open for New Year’s Eve and other special occasions can only be called “Champagne” if it is produced in the Champagne region of France. Otherwise, the beverage is known as sparkling white wine.

Although the initial stages of making champagne are quite similar to making any other type of wine, the end of the process calls for extra fermentation, as well as the addition of yeast and sugars.

Port Charts
Port is a fortified sweet wine that is produced in the Douro Valley of northern Portugal. Set within a mountainous region that is about forty miles from the ocean, the Port region is known for its extreme climate: hot, dry summers turn into cold, wet winters. As a result, ports turn out to be one of two distinct varieties, either wood ports or vintage ports.

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