2015 Vintage Chart and Wine Guide Is the wine you’d like to see a rating of not among the more than 140,000 reviews located in our Buying Guide? Check our latest vintage chart to get an idea of what to expect. Although our expert reviewers base these ratings and maturity estimates on their vast tasting experience and interviews with local winemakers, we can’t guarantee every wine will live up or down to the broad generalizations the ratings on the vintage chart represent—in the world of wine, there are exceptions to every rule. Maturity estimates assume proper storage conditions over the life of the wine; the rule of caveat emptor applies. See the easy, interactive 2015 Vintage Chart and Wine Guide You can also download the infographic version of the 2015 Vintage Chart Here’s a peek at the great older vintages: Pomerol/Saint-Émilion: 1989, 1985, 1982, 1978, 1970, 1964, 1961, 1959, 1955, 1953, 1949, 1947, 1945 Médoc: 1986, 1982, 1978, 1970, 1966, 1961, 1959, 1955, 1953, 1949, 1947, 1945

Graves: 1982, 1978, 1970, 1964, 1959, 1955, 1953, 1949, 1947, 1945 Sauternes: 1988, 1986, 1983, 1976, 1975, 1967 Red Burgundy: 1985, 1978, 1976, 1971, 1969, 1959, 1952, 1949, 1947, 1945 White Burgundy: 1986, 1983, 1982, 1978 Northern Rhône: 1985, 1983, 1978, 1970, 1961 Southern Rhône: 1985, 1983, 1981, 1978, 1967 Loire: 1985, 1978, 1976, 1971,1969, 1959, 1947 Alsace: 1985, 1983, 1975 Champagne: 1985, 1982, 1979, 1971, 1964 Piedmont: 1989, 1985, 1982, 1978, 1971 Veneto: 1983, 1979, 1976, 1974, 1971, 1970 Tuscany: 1985, 1982, 1978, 1971 Catalonia: 1985, 1983, 1982, 1981 Rioja: 1985, 1982, 1981, 1970, 1968, 1964 Ribera del Duero: 1985, 1983, 1982, 1980, 1979, 1970, 1968, 1962 Mosel-Saar-Ruwer/Rheingau: 1983, 1976, 1975, 1971, 1959 Port: 1985, 1983, 1977, 1970, 1966, 1963, 1955, 1948, 1945 California Cabernet: 1987, 1984, 1978, 1974, 1968 Oregon Pinot Noir: 1983, 1980 Washington Reds: 1987, 1983, 1979, 1978

Vintage Chart, Wine Trends and News Argentina Australia Austria Chile France Germany Italy New Zealand Portugal South Africa Spain United Stateswine and food tumblr Vintage Grid Back to 1961best all around wine glass shape Vintage charts summarize the quality and character of the wines from a particular region in a specific year. buy wine online in new zealandThey are by necessity general in nature, but can help consumers make good choices when faced with unfamiliar wines. glass of wine fitnessThey also help collectors determine when their wines will be drinking well.top wine maker 2015

Each year, Wine Spectator editors rate new vintages for more than 50 regions and varieties around the world and provide updates on older vintages based on tastings and analyses of as many as hundreds of wines from each region.best wine for blood Each vintage rating consists of three components: The score indicates the general quality of the wines; the description sums up the growing season and the wines' character; the drink recommendation suggests when the wines will be at their best. Learn more about our charts here. The guidelines we follow for our blind tastings, our tasters and their beats, and our 100-point scale. Video: Inside Our Tasting Department Tim Fish • James Laube • Kim Marcus • Thomas Matthews • James Molesworth • Alison Napjus • Bruce Sanderson • Harvey Steiman • MaryAnn Worobiec • Gillian SciarettaHome > Fine Wine > About Vintage charts are broad-brush generalisations, based on weather conditions leading up to, and during the harvest.

They should be considered in context. Gifted growers often make excellent wine in lesser vintages, just as, in outstanding years, mediocrity can prove a stronger force even than Mother Nature. Impressive longevity is all very well, but we also need something to drink in the shorter term, while we await the sleeping giants. In the enjoyment of wine, there is a place for everything, and a chart such as the one below is merely a start to putting everything in its place. This chart is only relevant for wines of a quality that will improve with age. Click the icons in the chart to view the wines available from our list Ratings that do not have links are not currently available from our list. View the buyers' annual report Download our latest Vintage Chart in PDF form View our full fine wine range Looking to start a vintage cellar? = Wines to lay down = May be drunk now, the best will keep = Wines that are past their best 1 = Very Poor 6 = Good, with variability

7 = Mostly good 8 = Good all round 9 = Very goodArgentina South Australia Austria Chile Alsace Bordeaux - red Bordeaux - sweet Bordeaux - white Burgundy - red Burgundy - white Champagne Languedoc-Roussillon Loire Valley Northern Rhône Southern Rhône Germany Piedmont Tuscany New Zealand Port and the Douro South Africa Catalunya Rioja and Ribera del Duero England Northern CaliforniaBasically the vintage refers to the year in which the grapes were harvested. This notion also hints at both the weather conditions in which the grapes grew and the quality of these grapes. Vintages should only serve as shorthand for assessing rough attributes of wines produced in a certain region. Predicting any wine’s "quality" from weather conditions is much too partial — you would need sounder criterias (as explained below). Wine tasting is much more reliable. Trying to "understand" the wines from the vintages is nearly useless. A wine vintage table shows ratings for every year in a certain wine region.

Would you think ratings would sum up the qualities of wines? Rating only shows a rough estimate of a vintage's reputation. A convenient indication found in charts is when to hold and when to drink the wines. Harvest machine and truck near the Rhine© 2006, by gautamnagpal Beware that producers, distributors and many critics tend to underplay the difficulties of the latest vintages on offer. You should therefore discount early reports. Keeping in mind that wine vintage charts can be misleading, here are some wine web sites related to wine vintages: Mr. Parker and his magazine do not grasp the specificities of Pinot Noir, the Loire, or Rioja. So use Robert Parker's vintage table only for red wines — specifically the Rhône area, Bordeaux, and the US Cabernets. Use the Wine Spectator vintage charts only for big wines (raised in new oak, with a high maturity of grapes, and little acidity) — to be drunk within the current year. Charts by Berry Bros. & Rudd present a reference for the Burgundy and the Bordeaux wines at more than USD 30.

They give ratings, aging potential, and descriptions of wine vintages. The years of harvest make little difference to the quality of wines from most regions. This is notably true of wines from the New World (new to wine that is). The favourable climatic conditions of regions such as Australia, California, and Languedoc make for steady output. Moreover the same wine can be produced year after year with industrial winemaking methods. This is related to the "international style". There is little if any vintage variation in this group of globalized, branded products that sells for $15 and under. Generally the winemaking imposes a target taste. Yet wine vintages still do matter in cool climates. The temperature weather of regions such as Europe, New York, Washington state, or New Zealand, help bring taste focus to the wines. Year in year out, winemaking can make for an interesting wine In Pouilly sur Loire it rained during the 1996 harvest© 1996, by Jean Luc Weber

Furthermore winemaking may allow for variation in high quality or estate-grown wines. This enables a . Thus, a wine produced by a demanding vintner in "a difficult vintage" will often taste better that a wine made by a careless vine grower in a year of great repute. Neighbouring vineyards will show different qualities, for example due to September rains. Only good producers can salvage a crop crippled by bad weather. Furthermore variation and quality do not directly depend on price. An example is the Gros Plant made by A.Michel Brégeon. (Winery importer in the US: Kermit Lynch.) In 2001, 2002 and 2004 the wines were excellent — very pure but typical: intense with gooseberry, lively but short. In 2005 the wine was stellar. In 2003, 2006 and 2007, the wine was not up to the high standards of the vigneron. This is why it was sold in bulk to the 'négoce' — maybe to join a group of standard products. In each vintage the grapes were produced by the same old vines.

(Where to buy wines made by Brégeon) The Vouvray Sec by François Pinon is imported in the USA by and at $14 retail. At age 6 both the 1995 and the 2000 were fresh, wide on the palate and minerally. Yet the 1995 showed pear and seashell where the 2000 showed mango at the same age. My point in a nutshell: for good and varied wines, you should follow the good vintners. Generalization can help the wine lover grasp wine complexities to a certain extent. The weather conditions (mild winter, frost, hail, rain before harvest) undergone by the vines and grapes give collective traits to the wines of a certain year in a given region. Here I am thinking about a cool climate such as in Oregon, France or Germany. In France and the Italian Piedmont, the 2003 spring rain deficit and the ensuing summer heatwave often resulted in wines that lacked freshness. In practice, wines of a given county - if bottled at one or two months interval - may share some features: They are difficult to taste for the same length of time (a few weeks for the 1997s in Burgundy and the Loire Valley, a few years for the 1998s);