Editing Wine (section)

=== Vintages ===
{{Main|Vintage}}
[[File:Champagne millésimé 1995.JPG|right|thumb|upright|Vintage French Champagne]]
For wines produced in the [[European Union]], if a bottle of wine indicates a vintage, then at least 85% of the grapes must have been harvested in that year.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wines and wine sector products |url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM%3Asa0026 |website=EUR-Lex |access-date=9 February 2025 |language=en}}</ref> In the United States, for a wine to be vintage-dated and labeled with a country of origin or [[American Viticultural Area]] (AVA; e.g., [[Sonoma Valley]]), 95% of its volume must be from grapes harvested in that year.<ref name="27 CFR 4.27">[[Title 27 of the United States Code]], [[Code of Federal Regulations]] [http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=33fc0c0194b58b6fe95208945b5c637a&rgn=div5&view=text&node=27:1.0.1.1.2&idno=27#27:1.0.1.1.2.3.25.8 §&nbsp;4.27] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070217043053/http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=33fc0c0194b58b6fe95208945b5c637a&rgn=div5&view=text&node=27:1.0.1.1.2&idno=27 |date=17 February 2007}}</ref> If a wine is not labeled with a country of origin or AVA the percentage requirement is lowered to 85%.<ref name="27 CFR 4.27" />

Vintage wines are generally bottled in a single batch so that each bottle will have a similar taste. Climate's impact on the character of a wine can be significant enough to cause different vintages from the same vineyard to vary dramatically in flavor and quality.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.frenchscout.com/wine-vintages |title=Wine vintages, vintage charts |access-date=26 June 2008 |last=Breton |first=Félicien |publisher=French Scout |archive-date=13 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080113212824/http://www.frenchscout.com/wine-vintages |url-status=live}}</ref>{{unreliable source|reason=Self-published (blog)|date=February 2025}} Thus, vintage wines are produced to be individually characteristic of the particular vintage and to serve as the flagship wines of the producer. Superior vintages from reputable producers and regions will often command much higher prices than their average ones. Some vintage wines (e.g. [[Brunello di Montalcino|Brunello]]), are only made in better-than-average years.

For consistency, non-vintage wines can be blended from more than one vintage, which helps wine-makers sustain a reliable market image and maintain sales even in bad years.<ref>{{cite news |first=Clive |last=Platman |title=Wine: Lovely bubbly |date=2 October 2002 |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:BPOC&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0F671027250245CB&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated4&req_dat=0D0CB57AB53DF815 |work=[[Birmingham Post]] |access-date=26 June 2008 |archive-date=10 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110080330/http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |date=May 2006 |title=Change to Vintage Date Requirements (2005R-212P) |journal=[[Federal Register]] |volume=71 |issue=84 |url=http://regulations.justia.com/view/43285/ |access-date=26 June 2008 |page=25748 |author=Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau |archive-date=16 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216145300/http://regulations.justia.com/view/43285/ |url-status=live}}</ref> One recent study suggests that for the average wine drinker, the vintage year may not be as significant for perceived quality as had been thought, although wine connoisseurs continue to place great importance on it.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.liquidasset.com/WEILVDQS.PDF |title=Parker v. Prial: The Death of the Vintage Chart |access-date=26 June 2008 |last=Weil |first=Roman L. |author-link=Roman L. Weil |date=25 May 2001 |archive-date=25 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625002705/http://www.liquidasset.com/WEILVDQS.PDF |url-status=live}}</ref>