Vintage
/ˈvɪn.tɪdʒ/
In wine, a vintage is the specific year in which the grapes used to make the wine were harvested, as indicated by the year printed on the label. A vintage wine is made predominantly—often entirely—from grapes picked in that single year and reflects the growing conditions and overall quality of that harvest.
Examples
- A bottle labeled “Chianti Classico 2019” is from the 2019 vintage, meaning the grapes were harvested in 2019.
- A Champagne labeled “Brut 2012” is a vintage Champagne from the 2012 harvest, while the same producer’s “Brut NV” is a non-vintage blend of multiple years.
- A sommelier might say, “2010 was an outstanding vintage in Bordeaux,” referring to the overall quality and character of wines from that harvest year in that region.
Etymology
“Vintage” comes from Middle English “vendage” or “vintage,” from Old French “vendange” (modern French: vendange), meaning grape harvest or wine harvest. Old French “vendange” derives from Latin “vindēmia,” formed from “vīnum” (wine) + “dēmere” (to take away), literally ‘the taking of the grapes for wine.’ Over time in English, the term shifted from meaning the act or result of the grape harvest to the wine from that harvest, and then to the specific harvest year and its perceived quality; by the 18th–19th centuries it was firmly used in wine to denote both the harvest year (e.g., “the 1811 vintage”) and notable years of exceptional quality.