Vintage dates: picked or bottled?

It's *supposed* to be the year the grapes were harvested. Pop's Wines apparently marches to a different drummer.

Martye

"Leo Bueno" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com... : : Can y'all explain the specifics of vintage dating?

The vintage date is that when the grapes are harvested. I have a bottle of wine that is vintage dated 2000 and was picked in the first week of January 2000, for example.

Dana

I suppose this could be an error or it could be Pop's selling promises to deliver 2004 wine when it's released.

Dana

Likely Futures. I have bought from them in the past and that is usually what that means.

Martye

I am interested to know, does your reply imply that wines are not usually made the same year (more or less) that the grapes are harvested. If this is true, how long can/are grapes typically stored for, and how is the storage done.

Many Thanks

Kenny

The vast majority of the time, the wine is made within hours or a day of being picked; I'm not suggesting otherwise.

In the case of the grapes picked on January 1, 2000, they were made into wine immediately. It was basically a gimmick to make one of the first wines of the "new millenium".

Dana

Yes. That's also the legal definition that applies to wines grown within or imported into the EU.

No.

There is one exception in the EU regulations, however: For very late picked ice wines in Germany (or Austria), even when they are picked after Dec. 31, they still have to be labelled with the year of their growing season, not the year they were picked.

M.

If this is a northern hemisphere wine, this labelling would be illegal in Europe. But I suppose it comes from the soutern part of the planet?

M.

Nope; California. It's Mondavi/Byron's Spyglasss.

Dana

So quite obviously this wine is made for domestic consumption only

- which reduces my interest considerably.

M.

Well, certainly the bottle I have was *labelled* for domestic sale only. I rather doubt it was sold outside the US, but if it was, it may have been labelled differently (Mondavi certainly does that).

Dana

This convention is also used in Canada - seen on a bottle bought in the EU.

Huh??????

Michael, considering that our annual wine producing calendar is exactly six months ahead (or behind as you chose!) there is even less likelyhood that this could be a Southern hemisphere wine.

With bud burst in Sept/Oct; flowering and fruit set in November; veraison in January and harvest in March/April and the late harvest in May - there is no chance of fruit hanging until the following year.

Note: This is typical in New Zealand - Australia will be earlier in warmer regions.

No question downunder - Vintage year quoted on label indicates year of "harvest".

st.helier

Well (just for argument) I'm guessing veraison in warmest parts of Australia is Nov/Dec, so if you wanted a rather green wine....... Dale

Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply

I seem to remember (vaguely) that some Australian wine company was offering the first wine of the new millennium. Claiming it was harvested at one minute after midnight or something to that effect. Do you remember those guys.

Right you are, of course - my lapse.

M.

Are you saying people are entering into a wine futures contract for a wine made from grapes that have not yet grown? This may make sense for grain futures, but this sound like a very risky undertaking for a buyer of wine.

I suppose you could lock in the price for an average vintage (say average of last five years). The buyer would be gambling the vintage would be better than average, and the seller gambling the vintage would be worse than average. It may provide funds for the chateau, and a guaranteed income.

Can anyone verify the existence of such "before the harvest" futures contracts? As I think about it some more, it might make some sense, but personally, I would pass.

Tom Schellberg

"Xyzsch" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@mb-m18.aol.com...

Never heard of it in Europe. Take Bordeaux, for instance: The futures for vintage 2003 will be, or are, available this month. Buying will often be based on barrel sampling recommendations from sources you trust. When I order a case or two with my supplier in Copenhagen, payment is effected in July but delivery will be in 2006 after the wine is bottled. hth Anders

In fact this kind of contract (between grower and négociant, not between consumer and distributor) had been in existance in Bordeaux up to the 1950s/60s. Proprietors sold a given part of the harvest at a fixed price before they even knew how good the vintage nor how large the harvest will be. This practice has been known as "vente sur souche".

Hubrecht Dujker reports that Raymond Dupin, owner of Grand Puy Lacoste from 1932 up to the early 1980s (then, without heirs, selling to the Borie family of Ducru), had sold one third of his

Finally, the crop was down to 35 tonneaux (compared to a normal crop of 100 tonneaux). So 33 tonneaux changed hands for the ridiculous price of 2750 francs, leaving only 2 tonneaux for auction. They fetched 7500 francs eauch, a then record price at the time for GPL. (That's 2,29 francs per bottle compared to 6,25

- as ridiculous as this might sound today.)

M.