Why are Red Wines Always So Old?

When you look at a restaurant wine list, it might strike you that the vintages on the white wines are much younger than most of the reds. This isn't because they've been sitting on the same bottles of red wine for a long time. Most white wines are ready to bottle within a year after harvest, so the available vintage will be recent. Many red wines, however, see a much longer aging process in barrels. White wines may rest for a few months before they are bottled, while red wines can spend up to two years in barrels before the bottling process. This means a white varietal harvested in 2014 will be ready to be sold in 2015, while the red might be ready in 2016, or even later. And while most wines are expected to be consumed right away, a higher percentage of red wines are made with the expectation that they will be given time to age in the bottle after they are sold, so a restaurant with a world class wine list will let those wines age accordingly. This is also the reason you might find one wine-maker's Merlot, for example, offered from different vintages. You get a different experience based on year produced and time aged.

Did You Know?... Different Wine Vintages Can Taste Different

We've enjoyed a few vintages of different wines, like the Anthony Road Dry Riesling. In 2011, we found the wine to be crisp, with floral notes and a grapefruit flavor. In all, it seemed like an exceptional wine. In 2012, we found the same crisp wine with more apple flavors.

If these are the same grapes from the same winemaker, how can this be? The answer is: weather. Unless they are heavily manipulated or crafted in a way to maintain the same exact flavor from year to year, wines are highly dependent on weather conditions. Early frosts will reduce the yield of grapes. A hot, dry summer can speed up the ripening process and create bigger, bolder flavors. A cold, wet fall can slow down the final ripening of the grapes, and dilute the flavor.

Despite all the steps that go into making wine, and the skill of the winemaker, it's important to remember that first and foremost, grapes are an agricultural product and are subject to forces beyond our control. A good vintage comes from good weather, but that can vary greatly from region to region.

Did You Know?... About Wine Vintages

When winemakers release a new wine, they are careful to label the year the grapes were picked. That way, we wine drinkers can understand a little more about the wine. In addition to the natural characteristics of the varietal, the terrior of the growing region, and the style of the winemaker, the year the grapes were harvested gives us some clues as to its character. In this case, it all comes down to weather. An unseasonably warm year can result in extremely ripe grapes, giving bigger flavors than usual. An uncommonly rainy harvest season may mean that the grapes were harvested early, leading to under-ripe, tarter flavors. In most cases, it won't matter much. You will seldom find two different vintages of the same wine on the shelves of your favorite wine shop. In fact, you might be weary if you do find a wine more than 4 or 5 years old on the shelf, it's possible that wine didn't sell and might now be "off". But, some of the most impressive restaurant wine lists might have several vintages of the same wine to suit different situations. A less renowned vintage might keep the price point down on wines from famous producers, giving less discriminating drinkers the chance to try something, possibly still amazing, at a more approachable price point. When in doubt, as always, we'll advise that you ask lots of questions, just like we do.

Why Can't You Find This Year's Red Wine?

When looking to buy wine, you may notice that almost all of the red wine is older than the white wine on the shelves, even from the same winemaker. That is because most red wine spends more time aging in barrels before the winemaker bottles it and releases it for sale.

What Does NV Mean on a Wine Label?

"NV" on a wine label means "Non-Vintage". This means it is a wine made from grapes from more than one harvest. This is very common in Champagne, where the goal of the winemaker is to match a specific flavor and style, so wines are blended over the course of years to create a specific flavor. In other wines, it can be a method to deal with an especially poor growing year, to maintain a winemaker's quality standards.

Did You Know?... About the 2011 Finger Lakes Vintage

According to the Finger Lakes Wine Alliance "Vintage 2011 has yielded very pleasant wines for current consumption; with particular strength in Riesling and other aromatic whites including Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer. Wines exhibit Finger Lakes balance with lower than average acids being compensated by lower pH thus retaining the impression of crispness."

In comparison to 2010 (an ideal growing year in the Finger Lakes), 2011 seems to have been a bit complicated. A cool, moist spring developed large yields, while a dry summer forced a reliance on other means of getting the vines their needed water. A rainy fall left growers worried about rot, but those that waited it out were rewarded with a warm, dry harvest.

The vintage seems to have given growers the opportunity to continue the trend towards more balanced, expressive wines, neither too simple and sweet or too aggressively dry.