Vintage, in
wine-making, is the process of picking
grapes and creating the finished product. A
vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown in a single specified year. In certain wines it can denote quality, as in
Port wine, where Port houses make and declare `vintage` Port in their best years. From this tradition, a common, though incorrect, usage applies the term to any wine that is perceived to be particularly old or of a particularly high quality.
Most countries allow a vintage wine to include a portion of wine that is not from the year denoted on the label. In Chile and South Africa, the requirement is 75 percent same-year content for vintage-dated wine. In Australia, New Zealand, and the member states of the European Union the requirement is 85 percent. In the United States the requirement is 85%, unless the wine is designated with an
AVA, (e.g., Russian River Valley), in which case it is 95%. Technically, the 85% rule in the United States applies equally to foreign imports, but there are obvious challenges in enforcing the regulation.
The opposite of a vintage wine is a
nonvintage wine, which is usually a blend from the produce of two or more years. This is a common practice for winemakers seeking a consistent style of wine, year on year.
