The headline on a November, 2007 press release from the (California) Wine Institute states: “California vintners praise high quality 2007 wine grape harvest.” While I don’t doubt the veracity of the winemakers assessing the vintage, it is very difficult to make broad generalizations regarding the harvest of any geographically large and diverse region such as the state of California.

To their credit, the Wine Institute folks then interviewed vintners from most of the major growing regions for their individual assessment of the harvest in their particular areas or appellations. Reading these individual reviews provides a better gauge of how the wines will actually show when they are released in the next few years.

I bring this to your attention so you will be better equipped to sort through the marketing hype regarding the various vintage assessments around the world, and so you can make better decisions regarding wine selection in the future.

As the resident wine guy (boy?) for our fair state, I am often asked for my assessment of various vintages as in: 'How was the 2004 vintage for cabernet sauvignon?' I usually fire right back with a few questions of my own like: to which country -- and which wine region or sub- region of that country -- are you referring?

I’m not trying to be difficult, but there really is no simple answer to the vintage date question as there is so much variability from wine region to wine region. As a matter of fact, there are usually significant differences among wine-producing regions from within the same small geographic area. Take Sonoma County in California for example.
Sonoma has about 10 distinct appellations or wine growing regions within its boundaries. Each of these regions has different soils, elevations and climates, and specific grape varieties are planted to take advantage of these horticultural, topographical and meteorological vagaries.

The Carneros, Russian River and Sonoma Coast appellations of the county are very cool regions where morning fog gives grudgingly away to warm afternoons with a return to cool evenings. Therefore, the grapes that seem to do the best in these areas are the ones which like cooler weather such as chardonnay and pinot noir. In the Knights Valley, Dry Creek Valley and Alexander Valley appellations, the afternoon sun blazes and the warm weather varieties such as cabernet sauvignon, zinfandel and merlot abound.

Add to this the effect of soils, which range from volcanic to chalky, as well as the influence of elevation, which rises from sea level to more that 1,500 feet, and you can see how many different influences can affect a particular vintage. And this is just for Sonoma County, California.

Remember that infamous wine word terroir (pronounced tare-WAH)? Terroir, which is a combination of all of the above, may actually be the most important factor affecting a vintage. Terroir’s meaning in the wine lexicon is so loosey-goosey (now there’s a good non-word for you) that defining it as “all-encompassing” would be too restrictive.

Okay, so what does it mean? Well, as near as I can tell, terroir starts with the place where the grapes are grown. The vineyard location, its slope, topography and angle toward the sun, and its longitude and latitude are all part of terroir. So is the soil type, the climate, rainfall and other precipitation in the vineyard, as well as the type of vine or clone of the vine used.

And what about the ability of the winemaker? Trust me when I tell you (from personal experience) that even an excellent vintage can be ruined by an incompetent winemaker.

So where are we? Well, since I was asked about the quality of the 2004 vintage for cabernet sauvignon, I suppose I would have to research all of the vineyards of the world that grow the variety and then apply the above-mentioned rating criteria to come up with an answer. However, in the interest of time, I could simply advise you to consult one of the hundreds of vintage charts which are available in magazines, online and in books that have already done this for you.

Checking my vintage chart, I find that 2004 proved to be an excellent vintage in northern California and produced very high quality cabernet sauvignon, which could be drunk now. But it will probably benefit from several additional years of bottle aging.

So the next time you wish to know about the quality of a particular vintage, consult one of the many vintage charts available, but be aware that these guides can be general in nature and somewhat misleading. In the end, it’s really up to you and your trusty palate.