Vintage Wines and Their Point of Comparison

A Tulane University business graduate, Geoff Block gained executive experience with Crown Growth Partners. He currently oversees the day-to-day operations of RLB Squared, LLC. Aside from managing this firm, Geoff Block enjoys fine dining and vintage wines. 

When two wines of the same variety are displayed in a wine store and one is more expensive than the other, it may be because the more expensive bottle is a vintage wine. The age of a bottle of wine often affects its price, particularly when it comes to red wines. Taste is altered as red wine ages because time reduces the tannin and acidity levels in the wine. 

Aside from processes and procedures that are controllable, the taste of vintage wine is greatly affected by an uncontrollable force — nature. The climate in a particular region where grapes grow has a huge impact on the outcome of the wine. During wet seasons, grapes don’t ripen at the time they were originally expected to ripen. That means the fruit harvested during a wet year might be mediocre when compared to fruit grown and harvested under normal climatic conditions. For this reason, even wines of the same label may taste differently from year to year.

Wine enthusiasts use the vintage chart as a general reference guide. The vintage chart contains information on the region where a wine was produced, the variety of grapes used in the wine, and the years of bottling. The chart also provides a rating. A certain wine may be rated as “superb” in one year and rated “very good” in another, thanks to those occasional uncontrollable forces.