What makes a good vintage? - The winemaker? - The crop? - The weather? It is in fact a combination of all three. A skilful winemaker cannot make great wine from poor grapes. An excellent crop in unskilled hands will never yield its true potential. A long sunny ripening season will inevitably yield a good vintage. For the winemaker optimum ripeness with optimum sugar levels is always sought but when to pick can be a gamble. Does s/he wait a week for that extra degree of ripeness and maybe risk a weather change - rain will dilute a ripe crop - or pick early and secure the harvest.Over the coming months we will be compiling detailed vintage reports with guidelines for buying, drinking and laying down. The following is an interim chart covering some recent vintages.
1 = Poor 10 = Outstanding
