What makes vintage wines

There’s a lot of confusion about “vintage wine” and wine ageing, so let me try to clarify:

The “vintage” of a wine is the year when the grapes used to make that wine were harvested (not the year when it was actually bottled). So wines made from grapes harvested in the northern hemisphere in September-October this year would be of the 2018 vintage, as would the wines made from grapes harvested in January-March in the Southern hemisphere.

The colloquial understanding of a “vintage wine” is one that is an old (and presumably good quality) wine. Mind you, only a very small proportion of all wines will improve with age: most white wines should be drunk within two–three years and the reds at best within three–five years.

Remember the saying “old wine in new bottles”? This literally means that someone was trying to pass off bad old wine as good new wine by putting the wine into a new bottle. Which is why at good restaurants the serving staff will open the bottle in the presence of the guest and get approval for the wine before serving.

You may well ask: what wines are capable of aging, and how would I know this?

Bordeaux, Burgundies and Barolos are three types of wines that are known to be age-worthy — always provided that the wine has been stored well, and that a particular label has the provenance of earlier vintages that show that its quality has improved over the years.

“Bordeaux” is the generic name for red wines produced in that eponymous region of France, but this term includes a wide quality range, from the 61 wineries classified in the 1855 (including the famous “First Growths” or Premiers Crus wines: Chateaux Lafite, Latour, Margaux, Haut-Brion, and Mouton-Rothschild) to classified chateaux and wineries (“Cru Bourgeois”), to un-classified producers. Do note that that the total area under wine grapes in Bordeaux is over 113,000 acres, and that “only” 422 of an estimated 7,375 wineries in this area are “classified”.

Bordeaux, Burgundies and Barolos are three types of wines that are known to be age-worthy — always provided that the wine has been stored well

The top Bordeaux wines are both very expensive and capable of lasting for years, if not decades: the average price of Chateau Lafite is $953 (about Rs 70,000) per bottle, and specific vintages retail for much more. 

“Burgundy” is, of course, the name given to wines produced in the Bourgogne or Burgundy region of France, whose red wines (only the Pinot Noir grape is used) have more elegance and style (than Bordeaux) but are lighter and less powerful. Here the vineyard ownership is highly fragmented — in places ownership may be a few rows, and producers are classified into Grand Cru, Premier Cru and Villages wineries.

The most famous Burgundy is, of course, the Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Grand Cru, whose wines are reported to have an average price of $ 19,465 (Rs 1.42 Lakh) and an aggregate score of 97/100! Wines like these can continue to improve for anywhere up to 50 years or more.

“Barolo” is sometimes called “the king of wines and the wine of kings”: produced from the Nebbiolo grape in the Piedmont region in North-West Italy, Barolos (like all age-worthy wines) are strong and tannic when produced and require five-10 years to become drinkable, with a signature “tar and roses” aroma and a long finish. Fortunately, the best Barolos are nowhere as expensive as their French cousins, and very good labels can be picked up for $150+ per bottle.

There are, of course, many other wine regions that produce age-worthy wines: think of the cult Californians, or the best wines from Chile, or Penfolds Grange from Australia, of which more anon.

Wines I’ve been drinking: The Vietti Barolo Castiglione 2012 (WS 91 points/ Rs 10,655 in Bengaluru). Aged for 26 months in casks, the wine had a complex aroma of cherries, pomegranate, tobacco, and spices and a full-bodied taste that just lingered on. An extravagance, but oh so good!
 

Alok Chandra is a Bengaluru-based wine consultant