Question about vintage and year of release

[timmspe]

When a wine is from a particular vintage e.g. 2010 does that mean that the fruit was harvested in 2010? Or that the growth cycle started in 2010 and was therefore harvested in early 2011? I thought it was the latter (although I release this may vary between the northern and southern hemispheres).

Therefore, I was a little perplexed when I visited a cellar door recently and tasted their '2012' shiraz. I took this to mean that the fruit was from the 2012 vintage i.e. for the most part grown in 2012, therefore harvested and turned in to wine in recent months, which would mean that the winemaking process was very rapid. I asked the person working at the bar about this and she seemed to dodge the question.

Could it be that the fruit in this wine was from a different vintage, and that the '2012' that was printed on the bottle is referring to the year of release, rather than the vintage? Is there any legislation to regulate whether the year printed on the label is referring to the vintage or the year of release? For example, could red wine fruit from the 2009 vintage (a vintage of lower quality, comparatively) be put in to a bottle with '2010' on the label if it was released in 2010, as an abstract way of making it look like a better product?

Many thanks,

[burges]

As I understand it, the vintage is the year in which the fruit was harvested.

[burgster]

If you pick the grapes in 2012 its a 2012 wine.

Pretty straight forward I would have thought.

[dave vino]

Don't be too harsh, it was legitimate question - people may see vintage as being a reflection of the 2011 Spring moving to 2012 Summer hence the confusion. I remember reading somewhere that some of the Canadian Ice wines may be picked after Jan 1 in say 2013 and before Dec 31 for the next 'vintage' so theoretically they could have two 2013 vintages

[timmspe]

If you pick the grapes in 2012 its a 2012 wine.

Thanks.

Don't be too harsh, it was legitimate question - people may see vintage as being a reflection of the 2011 Spring moving to 2012 Summer hence the confusion. I remember reading somewhere that some of the Canadian Ice wines may be picked after Jan 1 in say 2013 and before Dec 31 for the next 'vintage' so theoretically they could have two 2013 vintages

Thanks for backing me up on that one. And also for the interesting fact.

As for the date that's printed on the label? Does that always represent the vintage? Would it be legal for the winery to use it to represent the year of release?

[Polymer]

As far as I know every wine region in the world does it this way (Vintage is the year the grapes were picked).....I know every major and semi major one does....

Otherwise it would get too confusing right?

[dave vino]

Not legal as far as I know, plus it would open a can of worms in terms of say Barolo Riserva which must be aged for 5 years but can be longer. So you could have grapes harvested in 2005 being released in 2010 and called 2010 and others harvested in 2003 released in 2010 after 7 years. Then you have your Rivesaltes being harvested in 1909 and left in the barrel for 90 odd years...so the only 'sure thing' is when the grapes are harvested as this isn't at the mercy of the wines treatment afterwards.

And I don't reckon Seppeltsfield would appreciate their 1888 100 y.o para being labelled a 1988.

[timmspe]

Thank you for your helpful answers.

[Mahmoud Ali]

This may the right place to mention something that I have been thinking about regarding vintages and birth years.

A birth year wine is a bottle with the same vintage on the label, the year of the harvest, as already pointed out. I was born in January and that means that with a northern hemisphere wine, (Europe, the Mediterranean, and North America) where the harvest takes place in September/October, the entire growing season and the harvest takes place after I was born. The same holds true for those born in February, March and maybe April. I got to thinking that for those of us born in the early part of the year we should consider the previous years vintage as that would represent the vintage that grew and ripened on the vines as we gestated prior to birth. So if you have a child born in early 2001,for example, his or her birth wines should be from the 2000 Bordeaux/Burgundy/Barolo/Port/Riesling, etc.

In the southern hemisphere it would be reversed. As the harvest is usually in February and March, those born in the last couple of months of the year would also be using a vintage year that was, for all intents and purpose, over and done with about the time of conception. They should really think about using the following years vintage.

I hope I haven't ruined anybody's celebration or cellar plans.

Cheers..........................Mahmoud

[sjw_11]

The only point not mentioned by the others is that I am pretty sure there is a % factor where you can include a second vintage provided it is <x% of the total... in the same way you can blend in other varities than the named variety provided they are less than 10% I think it is...

[Polymer]

SJW: good point...

I think in Australia/EU it is 85%....US is like 85-95%...

You really don't hear about this much...I wonder how much it happens...

[burges]

SJW: good point...

I think in Australia/EU it is 85%....US is like 85-95%...

You really don't hear about this much...I wonder how much it happens...

For Australia it’s definitely 85%, otherwise the vintage can’t be declared on the label. The current (2011) release of Sami-Odi wines are a good example. In one of the wines they’ve used 2010, 2011 and 2012 fruit. There is no mention of vintage on the label (although that could even be an idiosyncrasy of the winemaker who seems to have different names for his wines every year).

Here’s an interesting guide from Wine Australia which explains the requirements for labeling terms etc.

[sjw_11]

Thanks Burges for the confirmation

Polymer I wonder too how much this practice takes place.. If I was a gambling man, I would probably bet that the undeclared blending in of a bit of other varieties and perhaps other vintages takes place quite regularly

To my mind if that was the case, it would simply emphasise something the French have always known - blending in a little of other varieties can help produce a better wine than an obsession solely with a single varietal (although "purity of expression" i.e. single variety, single vineyard, single microclimate probably, is certainly "so hot right now")

[sparky]

This may the right place to mention something that I have been thinking about regarding vintages and birth years.

A birth year wine is a bottle with the same vintage on the label, the year of the harvest, as already pointed out. I was born in January and that means that with a northern hemisphere wine, (Europe, the Mediterranean, and North America) where the harvest takes place in September/October, the entire growing season and the harvest takes place after I was born. The same holds true for those born in February, March and maybe April. I got to thinking that for those of us born in the early part of the year we should consider the previous years vintage as that would represent the vintage that grew and ripened on the vines as we gestated prior to birth. So if you have a child born in early 2001,for example, his or her birth wines should be from the 2000 Bordeaux/Burgundy/Barolo/Port/Riesling, etc.

In the southern hemisphere it would be reversed. As the harvest is usually in February and March, those born in the last couple of months of the year would also be using a vintage year that was, for all intents and purpose, over and done with about the time of conception. They should really think about using the following years vintage.

I hope I haven't ruined anybody's celebration or cellar plans.

Cheers..........................Mahmoud

I've been recommending to some people enquiring about birth year bottles to consider going with the conception year to get a better vintage:-)

[Brucer]

I was born in Feb 57.
I have a bottle of 56 Penfolds Club Port stashed away.
I say it was the year I was conceived.
Especially when 57 was a crap year.

[Cloth Ears]

I was chatting to a wine-maker last year about sparkling releases, and she reckoned that they should also label the wines with a disgorgement year as well as the vintage. There's a number of Australian and French makers who have a number of different bottle fermentation periods for the same vintage (for the same blend? - not sure), and it can make quite a difference to the taste. A 1996, disgorged in 2006 would taste quite different to the same vintage disgorged in 2001 (for example).

For some other wines, you'll find that any blend of a wine from differnt vintages, the bottle is generally labelled NV. Although some (like Seppelt Silverband) will tell you what year the blend was released - as distinct from the vintage(s) the grapes were picked.

But, if there is a year on the front of the bottle of Australian wine, it will be from the year the grapes were picked.

[Wizz]

Don't be too harsh, it was legitimate question - people may see vintage as being a reflection of the 2011 Spring moving to 2012 Summer hence the confusion. I remember reading somewhere that some of the Canadian Ice wines may be picked after Jan 1 in say 2013 and before Dec 31 for the next 'vintage' so theoretically they could have two 2013 vintages

Dave this can happen in Canada, and also in Germany in rare cases. The one each I'm aware of from Canada and Germany have been labelled in their "proper" vintage year, ie if picked on, say, 5 January 2013 the wine is still labelled 2012 vintage. I've never researched what the wine laws in those two countries have to say about that though, and what it implies for import into Australia (I've never seen either wine here),

Andrew