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macca2
14th September 2007, 05:37 PM
Can someone please enlighten me.
If the date on a bottle of wine is the vintage.
Is it the year in which it was grown, or the year in which it was bottled.

Thanks Macca

the dude
14th September 2007, 09:39 PM
it is the year it was bottled

czzer
15th September 2007, 11:24 PM
Nope...it is the year it was harvested.

Cliff Rogers
15th September 2007, 11:47 PM
I'm with czzer on this one.

woodbe
16th September 2007, 12:09 AM
I'm with czzer and Cliff.

Some wines are picked, produced and bottled in a matter of months, others spend a long time in vats, but they are always referred to by their crop year, not their year of bottling, even though it may be the same year in a lot of cases. Wines like Grange are released years after harvest, 2002 being the most recent release:


GRANGE
BIN 95
SHIRAZ 2002

VINEYARD REGION: Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale.

VINTAGE CONDITIONS:
Regular winter rainfalls in 2001 ensured ideal
soil moisture levels and healthy vine growth.
Spring and summer temperatures were
amongst the lowest on record, which reduced
yield potential, as well as slowing overall crop
ripening to a crawl. The 2002 growing season
concluded with a warm, dry autum, which,
combined with careful vineyard maangement,
enabled the grapes to reach ideal ripeness.

GRAPE VARIETY: Shiraz (99%), Cabernet (1%)

MATURATION: This wine was aged for 15 months in new
American oak hogsheads.

From: http://www.penfolds.com.au/library/tasting/grange2002.pdf

And no, I don't have any Grange, although I did manage to convince an overseas visitor into trying a bottle over lunch once :D

woodbe.

macca2
17th September 2007, 10:57 AM
Thanks for the replys.....harvest year it is.

macca

kiwigeo
28th September 2007, 07:56 PM
And no, I don't have any Grange, although I did manage to convince an overseas visitor into trying a bottle over lunch once :D

woodbe.

I buy Grange but I'd never think of drinking the stuff. IMO in terms of value for money there are mnuch better buys. I buy the stuff only because its a cult wine and I stand to make some dosh when I sell the stuff.