{"id":15772,"date":"2017-08-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-06T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bodegasmontecillo.com\/novedades\/what-is-the-vintage-of-a-wine-and-what-can-it-tell-us\/"},"modified":"2024-04-25T22:50:02","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T20:50:02","slug":"what-is-the-vintage-of-a-wine-and-what-can-it-tell-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bodegasmontecillo.com\/en\/news\/what-is-the-vintage-of-a-wine-and-what-can-it-tell-us\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the vintage of a wine and what can it tell us?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m sure you’ve heard talk of a wine’s vintage before and I’m sure you know there are some vintages that are excellent and some that are less good. But what year does a wine’s vintage refer to exactly? Today we’ll clear up any doubts. <\/span>
\nThe vintage of a wine refers to precisely the year in which the grapes from which it was produced were harvested. No more, no less. <\/span><\/p>\n

Why is it of use to know what vintage a wine is from?<\/b><\/h3>\n

If we know when the grapes were harvested for the production of a particular wine, we will have information about the weather conditions and if they were favourable or not for grape growing. \u00a0<\/span>
\nAs we have stated in <\/span>previous posts<\/span><\/a>, to produce a quality wine it is vital to start out with quality grapes. Therefore, we must consider the vintage as a key factor although we will later see how and to what point. \u00a0<\/span>
\nThe first thing to consider is where you find this information. Well, there is no strict regulation. It is usually found on the front label, although it could be on the back label or the cork. We can even find wines with no vintage marked at all (because the wine was produced with grapes from various vintages, for example).<\/span>
\nOn Bodegas Montecillo’s wines the vintage is easy to find as it’s on the front label so you should spot it straight away. <\/span><\/p>\n

How are wine vintages classified? <\/b><\/h3>\n

So now we know what and where the vintage is, we can find out if the grapes that went into the wine that we are holding grew and ripened in optimum conditions or if they had to battle against poor weather. <\/span>
\nGenerally, a good vintage comes from a year with plenty of sunshine and rainfall that was not too heavy and spread throughout the year. A poor vintage may result from an excessively wet summer or very severe spring frosts. <\/span>
\nThe vintages are usually awarded five different distinctions. In Spain, this classification is the responsibility of the Regulatory Councils. In our case, the Regulatory Council of the Rioja Designation of Origin classifies the vintages and the categories are the following:<\/span><\/p>\n