WineForEveryone

Burgundy Vintage Rating

Arguably the best region in the world for making Pinot Noir, Burgundy has it all: Just the right angle to the sun, just the right climate, just the right soil, and wine growing techniques handed down for centuries. The French really know how to get the best from the Pinot Noir grape. What we show here is the overall rating of the harvest. It won’t insure that the bottle you buy will be the best, but the higher the rating (1 to 100) simply improves the odds you will. These wines are not cheap by any means, so having knowledge of the overall rating of the vintage helps when deciding whether to buy or not. But if you like wine, you’ll love a good Burgundy. Silky smooth with very low tannins, it is very drinkable. And with a filet mignon, veal or any of the lighter meats, it’s simply the best. So buy with confidence and enjoy.

NOTE: Burgundy is synonymous with Pinot Noir. In America and the rest of the world, the wines are named by the grape, thus a Pinot Noir from California is called Pinot Noir. In France the wine is named for the region, not the grape, but the Pinot Noir grape grows in Burgundy, thus a Burgundy is also a Pinot Noir. This review is only for wines from Burgundy.

Vintage	Rating	Comments
2005	92+	Preliminary reviews suggest this is a great Vintage Year
2004	89	Though there are some excellent wines in this vintage, the overall quality is not as good as other recent vintages.
2003	91	A great year for Burgundy. If you can find a Burgundy from this year, buy it!
2002	94	Incredible vintage! Up and down the French region of Burgundy, from Beaune to Dijon you can't find a bad wine. These are rare, if you find one, buy it!

What is a Vintage? Why is it important?

If you’re a beginner with wines, knowing the answers to these two questions will enhance your appreciation of good wine. So let’s start with the first question:

What is a vintage? In essence it’s simply a year: 1946 is a vintage, 1975 is a vintage. The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines “vintage” as, “A season’s yield of grapes or wine from a vineyard.”

Ok, that was the easy one. Now for question 2: Why is it important?

It’s important because so much affects the quality and taste of the wine. Some may disagree, but for us it’s the naturally occurring factors of nature that define the vintage. Such things as rain, temperature and sunshine to name a few.

As the dictionary implies, vintage refers to the overall quality of the wine of that year. In some years, when the rainfall, temperature and sunshine all work together in harmony, the overall crop that year should be good. If the conditions are optimal, then it should be a great crop. And likewise, if there is too much or too little of anything, the crop will not be nearly as good.

However, choosing a wine from a great vintage does not ensure the wine in the bottle will be good; that depends on that particular vineyard and the skill of the winemaker. But it does increase the odds you’ll find a wine you will like. Choosing a wine from a bad vintage does not mean you will not like anything that year; it simply decreases the odds of finding a good wine.

So it’s very important to know the vintage of any wine. And remember, the climate around the world is not the same, so a great vintage in France may not be a great vintage in Australia.

SPECIAL NOTE:

Consistency of climate helps some wine regions. This results in so many good years that vintage charts become relatively unimportant. A good example of this is California, particularly Napa and Sonoma Valleys, which are blessed with a constancy of climate. So if you find a California wine you like, you’ll probably like it in any year you find it. In California, it’s the particular skill of the winemaker that makes the difference. You might not like one wine versus another, but that will usually be because of how the winemaker made the wine, not the “vintage.”

What is a Vintage Chart?

A Vintage chart shows the overall rating of a harvest. It won't insure that the bottle you buy will be the best, but the higher the rating (1 to 100) simply improves the odds you will.