New Vintage Blues -Feb 23

Those of us who taste wines regularly learn a great deal about our own palettes, gravitating toward those wines and varietals which appeal to us. We take into account not only the grape(s) used, but the region, price and winemaker. About the time we find an “old faithful” wine that we can either buy in bulk or can count on being at our local restaurant consistently, we notice something changes. If we are astute enough to ask, many times we find that the vintage, or year of production, has changed.
Each year provides the winemaker a new set of challenges to create his product. An oversimplification has winemakers falling into two camps: Those who try to create a consistent product year to year, and those who make the best wine they can make with the product they are given. Many old world wines use blending of grapes to create consistency. Current trends in the new world are to let nature and vineyard management have a larger role in the final taste. This can be unnerving as a consumer, but it allows us to understand the challenges that each winemaker goes through each year if we take the time to consider it. Talk to your wine professional the next time you notice a vintage change and try to ascertain what is different, and why.