California vintages for lower priced wines

I’m looking at California vintage charts such as this one. Literally every single year going back to 2016 is supposedly not ready yet, for all grapes! And you have to go back to 2014 to get something that’s generally ready.

I don’t know about you guys and where you shop, but that’s pretty ridiculous if you’re looking for $8-12 wines at your local supermarket. Even at Total Wine, unless you’re buying wines from the area that you need a key to get into. Even for the Cabs, everything is 2016+, and mostly even 2017+. Does it even matter for cheaper wines, and that chart is really for higher end estate bottled wines? I mean no one at my local Food Lion is “cellaring” their wine purchases, lol. They are drinking it now, possibly even in the parking lot before they drive home. Am I missing something here?

Vintage charts that indicate readiness to drink are basically useless. Every producer is different and even different wines from the same producer.

Yes, also, generally higher priced wines are made to age longer, but the exception is the rule in the wild wild west of American wines.

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