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+--- Thread: Best Vintage Ever (Again?) (/thread-12916.html)
- winecollector - 10-28-2000
Maybe it's just me and I'm being paranoid, but I think it's starting to look more and more like some wine magazines out there are doing they're best to trumpet-up each new vintage as it is released, as a way of selling more magazines and encouraging increased wine purchasing. For example, 97 Italian wines were heralded as being "The vintage of the century" by some of these magazines. I remember my 1990's, of which I still have many, and must say that both vintages produced some excellent wine. However, the 98 Italian wines that I have had so far, have proven to be just as good if not better than their 97' and 90' counterparts.
Now we're seeing the same thing in the magazines again with Californian wines. The 97's are being compared to the 94's, and it's now being trumpeted as the vintage of the century. When you've got literally thousands of wines that come out of an area like California, how can accurate judgements like this be made when the wines are still so young? Though I must admit that my experience with 97' Californian wines has been very limited so far, I haven't noticed much of a difference. But what I am noticing more than anything else, is these magazines trying to cry out at the top of their lungs, seemingly to get noticed, and to sell more wine.
Oh well. Perhaps I should just take my paranoid self down to the wine store and buy up as much 97' Californian wine as I can afford while it is "still" the vintage of the century. I guess I'll have to dump all my inferior 94's down the drain now since they must be obsolete.
- barnesy - 10-28-2000
I scanned the WS article about the 97 italians. Since this article, I have knowticed that the prices of 97 italians have gone up quite a bit, which is quite annoying. I bet we'll see the same for 97 californians. [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/frown.gif[/img]
Barnesy
- Bucko - 10-28-2000
This stuff has been going on for years. There have been so many "vintages of the decade/century" in the past 15 years that it has become a joke and a yawner. I don't even bother to turn the page on reports like these.
Bucko
- Botafogo - 10-28-2000
The following is from the FRONT LABEL of Paolo Bea's Montefalco Rosso 1998:
"Vendemmia 1998 (Eccezzionale)
After the good (but "just", it is idiomatic but the connotation is there) 1997 vintage we find that 1998 is an exeptional and overall better vintage."
One thing to remember is that the American press gets all moist when a vintage is TOO hot and the wines taste more Australian or Californian than actually Italian. Witness the duo of 89/90 in Piemonte: the actual winemakers much preferred the more balanced and long lived 89's while Mr Pahkah and others nearly creamed themselves over the fatter, more slovenly, less age worthy 90's (at least some of which, and particularly the "modern" style ones, are falling apart already). Mr. Pahkah has even said that "the Piemontese are not aware of what they have in 1997"!!! They are and they prefer the '98's.
Roberto