I have personally bought a lot from vintages that has been initially hyped. But sometimes vintages that was written off or gained luke warm press initially can show to be amazing with time.
Now i am only 34 years old and have not been collecting for that many years. So i will mainly be in for future surprises, but i would love to hear about vintages that really surprised you in different parts of the world.
2008 in Germany is one for me. Didn’t seem to get very good ratings initially. But everything i tasted from the vintage is beautiful.
2013 and 2014 in the Douro can be really underrated (probably because the reputation of the vintages is influenced by the declarations of port houses, or absence thereof).
The reputation of 2012 in Barolo was so-so – an OK, near-drinking vintage. But I and some others (e.g., Oliver McCrum) find a lot to like in these – beautiful aromas and good balance. Not one to keep for a half century, but really lovely wines in many cases.
Unless something truly disastrous happens, I don’t believe in “off vintages” anymore. Vineyard work and winemaking are at a very high level, and can handle almost anything nature does. Severe rains at harvest or fire (to name two potential things) can have very bad consequences, but even rain is so much less an issue now, both because of climate change and because of vineyard/winery work.
The different vintage expressions are part of what I love about wine. I happened to open a 2008 Merkelbach Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Kabinett last night that was a lovely, classic wine with years left to develop. 2008 isn’t “off”, it’s 2008, which is a radically different vintage from its neighbors 2007 and 2009. What fun!
Imho many vintages are called “off” or “minor” much to fast, also here in the forum.
In my experience almost all vintages are “at least” interesting and have their virtues, may it be they are accessible earlier, less heavy, more fragrant, more transparent, more intense, ageworthy or whatever.
One of the biggest surprises was 1991 in Burgundy, early called very difficult - now often (not always) excellent wines, often better than 1990.
Also 1992 produced a lot of wines that are not only charming but drinking very nicely now (but there are also thin wines to be found).
Same for 2007 - or 1997, or 2000 - in Burgundy.
Nevertheless there are vintages I´m absolutely not fond of, 2012 or 1991 Bordeaux, 2004 or 1994 Burgundy, 2002 and 1991 Southern Rhone, 1993 Northern Rhone -
and I´m also no fan of 2006 in Germany (although I had some good drinkers, too).
But people who write off vintages completely due to some media reports without having tasted enough themselves might miss a lot of really fine wines eventually!
Its important to differentiate that many ‘off’ Bordeaux vintages are simply off from a longevity perspective - i.e. dont expect it to be drinking well in 30, 40 years time. They might lack the complexity of a 100 point 1982 wine, but even an off bordeaux vintage will average, say, 92 points. I just wouldnt want to be holding onto any 2012 by 2032 or 2042, whereas I’d be annoyed if much of my 2018 was gone by 2038!
the other thing of course is that 2014 wasnt actually a bad vintage - and it was the last reasonably priced bordeaux vintage imho. Not to say 15, 16, 18, 19, etc, didnt have good value for money etc but you can get some cracking 14s (Canon, Pontet as examples?) at comparatively amazing prices still, and they’re unlikely to increase heavily
I had a few 2007 and 2008 J. J. Prum’s
up against each other not long ago. Big difference and in the end i guess it depends on your palate. But i preferred 2008 by a long margin.
2003 northern Rhône. I’m continuously surprised at just how bad it is.
I should add that until this year I would also have said 2003 Burgundy, but I’ve had a few really nice 2003s this year. Trapet’s Chambertin is excellent in 2003.
Completely agree. When you look at the fact that Quinta do Crasto produced their top cuvees in those years (Maria Teresa in 2013 and Vinha da Ponte in 2014), it’s hard to argue that those weren’t vintages able of producing great wines.
I don’t think you can discount an entire region’s wines based off a vintage. So much of it comes down to how a producer handled the grapes given the circumstances that vintage. The most classic example of producers adapting to vintages being Bordeaux and their producers changing their blends given each vintage’s circumstances.
That said, I’ve had some quite enjoyable 2003 Burgundies, most recently a Bouchard Cuvée Ancienne Carnot in magnum that was quite nice.
