FAQ: What does 'vintage' wine mean?

Your One Minute Guide by Helena Nicklin

What is ‘Vintage’ wine?

The word ‘vintage’ refers to the year the grapes in the bottle were grown and will be the year printed on the label. 

In the past, the term ‘vintage wine’ was synonymous with expensive fine wines that had been ageing for a good few years. It is still used occasionally, almost poetically, in the same way we might talk about vintage clothing. In reality, though, it’s just wine made with grapes from one year’s harvest so these days, most wines are technically ‘vintage wines’.

One notable exception to this ‘not really all that special’ rule is champagne. With champers and other traditional method sparkling wines, the default is usually ‘Non Vintage (NV)’ or rather, ‘Multi Vintage (MV)’ wines, witn several years worth of reserve wines blended together with some wine from the current year. When condtions are perfect however, a sparkler will be made with grapes from one year only. This is ‘vintage’ fizz where the very fact that it has even been made tells us that the quality is particularly high and that there are certain positive characteristics associated with that single year to explore in the wine. The same goes for Port, as it happens. 

Try: Moet & Chandon NV or any large brand, Non-Vintage Champagne Versus the same brand from a single year. Now, there’s a party…