What is expensive wine, vintage or vineyard? Why?

4 Comments

1. Lisa H says:

   June 12, 2009 at 2:57 pm

   First, it depends on if you are talking about europeon wine or non-europeon. The laws and requirements are different. In europe the location and year things are picked is very important, but the winery name is not.

   To answer your questions:

   vintage is the year the grapes were harvested.

   vineyard is the place the grapes were harvested from.

   totally different concepts from each other. the more specific the vineyard location, supposedly the more premium it gets. Ditto with the year, if all from one year, then the more premium.

   a Non-Vintage Date Chardonnay from California is not viewed as highly as say a 2006 Chardonnay from Katherine's vineyard in San Luis Obispo area.

   The more specific on a wine label with date, location ,etc. the more premium is thought to be.

   Though I don't always agree. Some of my most favorite wines right now are blends of 3 - 4 wines from different years.
2. The Truth says:

   June 12, 2009 at 2:57 pm

   A Vineyard is the place (farm or field) where the grapes grow, a vintage is the year in which the grapes were picked and made into wine. The scarcity of a wine or rather a small vineyard and a great vintage is what makes wine expensive. In Burgundy, there is a wine called DRC Romanee-Conti, that comes from a single row of grapes in a vineyard. The vineyard is Domaine Romanee-Conti (DRC) and the wine (or the row of grapes) is Romanee-Conti. A bottle from the fantastic vintage of 1985 will cost you about $7,000-$10,000! Yep, for 1 bottle!!!!
   Below is a wine auction for a bottle on the wine commune, an auction site for wine, like eBay.

   Back in 1855 the French decided to "classify" the wines from the Bordeaux region into 5 classes, they gave the top "Premiere Grand Cru Classe" rating to only 4 wines,
   Chateau Lafite Rothschild
   Chateau Margaux
   Chateau Latour
   and Chateau Haut-Brion.
   In 1972 the first and only change was made, upgrading Chateau Mouton Rothschild to a '1st growth' status, as these 5 wines are now known. Their great vintages like 1982, 1996, 2000, 2003 and 2005 make them sell for about $1,000 each (and more), and in off vintages for as little as $150 each.
   A cheap wine from a great vintage will taste better than an expensive 1st growth from a bad vintage.
   Remember, "Vintage is everything"! when buying a good wine, then the vintner (or maker) is second and the region or appellation is 3rd.
3. Apples to Apples says:

   June 12, 2009 at 2:57 pm

   Vineyard is merely the place where the grapes are grown.
   The vintage is the year it was produced.
   Some crops are better than others. During the good years the demand is higher so the price is higher.
4. go avs! says:

   June 12, 2009 at 2:57 pm

   Vineyard is where the grapes are grown.

   Vintage is the year in which the grapes were grown.

   Chateau Mouton, Chateau Lafitte and Chateau Latour are very expensive Bordeauxs.

   Opus One is a pretty expensive California wine.