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I'm mad about Vintages (not really)

» posted by Rich on 2010-03-11 00:17:46

[For this next blog post, please read in your best Any Rooney voice. If you need a visual aid, please click HERE]:

Did you ever notice how people pay so much attention to vintages? What's the deal with vintages, anyway? Can a really good wine from one year really become a bad wine the next? That may have been the case back in the day before modern wine-making technology created a consistent quality you can count on.

Sure, it may be really hot one year, and the winemakers in the field may have to really be on their game, but in the end... isn't it gonna be a fairly good wine no matter what? In other words, a good growing season may make a really good wine great, but it won't make a bad wine really good.

Besides, each of us has our own taste, right? So the delicious qualities of a "good year" to some, may be a disgusted spit-take to others. Maybe the wines I enjoy are from years generally considered the worst vintage. Good wine is good no matter the season or vintage, I always say.

You know when vintage matters to me? When I'm figuring out how young or old a wine is. Will it be young and vibrant, or aged and mellow? Or has that Pinot Noir from 1995 been sitting too long? In California, where I'm from, and from where most of the wine I drink is from, I don't think vintage matters for squat.

[cue ticking of the 60 minutes pocket watch. And... out]