What does it mean for a year to be “a good year” for wine, and how does it affect the taste? Also how can one know what years are “good years”?

Question

What does it mean for a year to be “a good year” for wine, and how does it affect the taste? Also how can one know what years are “good years”?

In: Other

Answer 1

It has to do with the quality of the grapes — things like rain/drought, amount of sun, temperature, etc. can affect yield and quality of grapes, which can affect the quality of the wine made from those grapes. Seasonal conditions will help guide year’s quality, ie. if lower levels of rain (less water mean sweeter grapes) mean better X variety and there’s a year with low levels of rain, then they’ll be able to predict it’s likely a good vintage. Of course, once the first bottles are opened and consumed, they’ll have better idea and will be able to predict how those wines will age.