Pay Attention to Year and Location Printed on the Wine Bottle

Just like when and where you were born has impacted your life experiences and resulting personality, the taste characteristics of a wine are a factor of when and how the wine was produced and from what area its grapes were harvested.  That’s why two wines of the same name from the same producer but from different years or from different vineyards or regions (e.g., “California” versus “Monterrey”) taste different. 

Many factors affect wine taste characteristics

Specifically, the taste characteristics of a wine are determined by many factors, such as:

• the grape variety
• the growing conditions in a particular year (e.g., days of sunshine, amount of rainfall)
• the soil in which the grape vines are planted (e.g., chalk, clay, limestone)
• the location of the vineyard (e.g., valley floor, on a hill, in a particular microclimatic region)
• production techniques (e.g., "green pruning," fruit preparation (e.g., stems removed before crushing the grapes), fermentation technique, oak barrel aging)

This simply means the vintage (i.e., year of the wine) and the region or vineyard from which the grapes used to produce the wine were harvested are as important to the taste of the wine as is the producer of the wine. 

It is also important to know that wines from the same producer and vintage but made of grapes from a different region are likely to vary significantly in price, with specific, named wine-growing areas (i.e., “Napa Valley” versus “Sonoma County”) and named vineyards typically commanding a higher price.

When the wine was produced matters

Unfortunately, it seems that some retailers would have you believe vintage is unimportant.  Have you ever noticed a placard in front of a wine on a retail shelf that gives a great review…but if you look closely, the review describes a wine from a different vintage year? 

The wine in front of you may be worthy of a similarly glowing review, but it also may not.  Also, the wine in front of you, though pleasing to others, may not match your taste preferences.

Make sure you're buying the right wine

The Calldera wine recommendation service recommends specific wines matched to your unique taste preferences, where a “specific wine” means a wine of a particular vintage from a particular producer made of grapes from a particular location. 

Therefore, when purchasing a wine that Calldera has recommended to you, it is important to make sure the wine you select matches the producer, vintage and region (and/or wine name) specified by the Calldera application. 

After all, it’s all about your satisfaction.

"Have you ever noticed a placard in front of a wine on a retail shelf that gives a great review…but if you look closely, the review describes a wine from a different vintage year?"

Get Personalized Wine Recommendations

Download the calldera wine App