quote:
Originally posted by jalexsr:
Wine Spectator is advertising its Wine Vintage app by saying: "Whether browsing at a restaurant or your favorite wine shop, VINTAGECHART+ enables you to confidently select a wine from any of the world's top wine regions - knowing it will always be a good year."
Does knowing a good year really translate into knowing a good bottle since within every vintage, there are good and bad wines regardless of how the vintage is rated.
A good vintage, to me, simply means that it was an across-the-board "easy" vintage to make wine. Which means that you are more likely to find a good bottle of wine. 2007 Napa, for example, was an easy vintage. So you can pick up just about any bottle of 2007 Napa Cab, and it should be relatively good.
As you mentioned, even in the best vintages, terrible wine is produced, but for the most part, a good vintage is a good indicator.
Other good vintages in California have been '97 and '94, so I'm more likely to gamble on a '97 Cali Cab that I know little about than I would on a '98 or '00 (although lately I've been having some good luck with 98's).
Anyway, i think it's just designed to be a helpful tool, and for the most part, I do find it helpful. If i'm staring at a small list, where I don't recognize a single producer, i guide myself by vintage and region and usually do alright.
