Recently received the note below:
“have recently been trolling snooth and corkd and came upon your site i love it and it’s very informative so thank you my question is regarding vintages and types of wine i notice that this is a big deal in ratings are their any simple pointers you could give me as a newbie about vintages and cabernets/chardonnays with regard to country and region it would be much appreciated thanks! – shamsi”
First of all forgive my shameless self promotion. Wine Witch is a labor of love (certainly not cash) and it is such a kick to receive a compliment. I couldn’t resist publishing it. Shamsi, I apologize for not giving you a personal response, but your question about vintage would be interesting to a lot of readers.
Vintage has always generated a lot of discussion. Here is my simplest advice. At our price point ($15 or less) it does not matter very much. True, there may be some very subtle differences from year to year. However, by and large value priced wines thrive on their consistency over time. What does matter is the age of the wine. Again, what we are talking about in Wine Witch is generally not meant to age, so what you are mostly concerned about is not buying a wine that is too old.
While there are always exceptions, here are some guidelines for value priced wines. White should be consumed sooner than reds. Lighter whites like Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio are generally best 3 years or less than the date on the label. Chardonnays can probably go another year or so. The same applies for reds – lighter before heavier but most less than 5 years.
Pay attention to these words – BEWARE THE BARGAIN BIN! Too often these are wines past their prime or those that were overheated or otherwise abused.
When you get to the headier heights of wine enjoyment – cult California Cabs, premier Bordeaux or Burgundy, super Tuscans – vintage matters a great deal. If you are considering a wine at $25 or $50 or more, I would research the individual wine. There are many reliable sources, Wine Spectator being one I turn to often.
Shamsi, thanks for the note. The rest of you out there, I would love to hear from you.
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As usual great points… I’d like to affirm again when dealing with wines at the price point Wine Witch focuses on you’re not often looking for “vintage”. These often aren’t wines you’re buying to stock your wine cellar. These wines are meant for a more instant gratification (lack of better way to put it). On rare occasion you may find something worth hanging on to for a special event but again that’s something far different from stocking a wine cellar.
Yes vintage can be a guide and yes some times even “cheap” wine can have a bad year and we hope a fantastic year often. As Suzie points out… At *this price point* the producers are really looking for constancy since that would be your reason to bother buying it again. Also as Suzie points out, use the year to know if you *shouldn’t* be buying it more than if you should be. Don’t get me wrong though you could still use vintage if you’re willing to really research it crops are different every year so there is going to be better years than others but remember at this price they are really trying to produce constancy.
Now you also brought up variety and region…
this is where I am a snob of sorts… let’s first consider variety.
Variety is an extremely personal thing and also somewhat fickle… I have VERY specific tastes in wine and while I could list the particular grapes I know, OFTEN, will provide what I am looking for in a wine… there are those times when a grape I usually like doesn’t come through and on the other hand there are times I am very surprised by a variety I know I don’t usually like. The only thing I can say is always keep an open mind and be willing to explore.
Now for region… again I have my favorite regions in fact I am a little worried about the earthquake in Chile since some of my favorite wines came from Chile. I have never been let down by nearly any wine from Spain… This does NOT mean you’ll love wine from Spain though… It’s so extremely subjective to each persons tastes. I can tell you Spain puts a lot of time into even their cheap wine.
So in wrapping up my 2 cents here… It’s not so much the year the wine was made, the region the wine came from or the type of grape that was used to produce the wine… The very best advice is to first learn YOUR TASTES! what YOU like in a wine. This is only possible by keeping an open mind and trying almost everything. In time you’ll begin to see a trend in what you like and how that relates to the grapes and regions. Forget about the vintage other than to make sure it’s not too old.
Bottom line enjoy what you drink!
wow wine witch!
thank you so much
simple and important pointers
good to know i don’t need much thinky thinky and the stuff i need to know is clearly laid out in plain english
thanks again
shamsi