Read magazines and websites devoted to wine and you can’t help but notice how much attention is paid to news about recent vintages here and there – where the weather was good or not so good and what we might expect when the wines from those vintages come on line in a year or two or more.
From a winemaker’s point of view, a successful vintage is one in which vines get off to a good start, flower and set fruit on schedule and receive enough sun and warmth to produce healthy, ripe fruit at harvest. But for the press and wine merchants this isn’t really enough. Another ho-hum, no-trouble vintage doesn’t breed excitement or boost subscriptions. What’s wanted are vintages that give something to crow about – that promise above-normal levels of ripeness, concentration and richness. Anomalous vintages of this sort are touted as once-in-a-decade or once-in-a-century events – even as they come along, as they seem to, with more frequency than ever.
But while blockbuster (or even marginally more robust) vintages drive sales and prices, they don’t always produce more drinkable wines. This is because very ripe grapes typically mean higher alcohols and less acidity – things that generally make wine less, fresh, appetizing, and food-friendly. So, there’s a sense in which wine drinkers are driven from pillar to post: too little richness can make wine feel ungenerous, even a little mean; too much can rob wine of the freshness that constitutes so much of its appeal.
One drawback of wine tastings as they are typically conducted is how easily they can devolve into beauty contests, in which the one showing the fleshiest flesh and curviest curves wins the prize. It takes a bit of imagination to visualize how each will acquit itself at the table where, rather than taking a sip or two, you’ll be enjoying several glasses over a few hours.
But there’s something more to consider, if a bit more challenging to describe. It’s what we like to call transparency: the sense some wines give of being able to be tasted into and through. We contrast see-through vintages with those that seem to be opaque: all surface and no interior. Often the culprit is just too-dense fruit, product of very ripe, possibly overripe, grapes.
Of course, plenty of middle ground exists between wines that are just too lean to please and those too rich to be engaging. Riding the ups and downs of vintage variation is one of the delights of wine, and watching skilled winemakers negotiate these hills and valleys is a source of admiration. So, the next time you hear that the new vintage in such and such a place is going to be one in-a-fill-in-the-blank, curb your enthusiasm – at least until you’ve had a chance to look into it.
-Stephen Meuse
Taste, talk and learn about wine this week in the FKC wine corner . . .
THURSDAY, JULY 11 3-6 PM – NEW ARRIVALS
2018 Familie Bauer, Wagram Gruner Veltliner “Juche”, $16.95
2017 Biscaris, Terre Siciliane Frappato $25.95
2014 Casa De Mouraz Dão Tinto, $19.95
FRIDAY, JULY 12 3-6 PM – FRESH FACES
2018 Angelo Negro & Figli, Roero Arneis ‘Unfiltered,” $19.95
2016 Château Le Thil, Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux, $16.95
Alberici, Lambrusco “La Fogarina,” $18.95