Wine Vintages - Search Cellar Link's wine store

Vintage is the technique of picking grapes and creating a finished product (wine). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or predominantly, grown and harvested in a single specified year, however most countries allow a vintage wine to include a portion of wine that is not from the year denoted on the label.

A non-vintage (NV) wine means the year isn't listed on the label and may contain wine from different years. Champagne is often released non-vintage (i.e. without a date) because the region doesn't get consistently ripe grapes every year. Wines are blended from both good and bad years so that the product is consistently pretty good every year.

Warmer climates generally produce riper grapes and better wine for people to drink. A poor growing season can lead to grapes low in sugar which lowers the quality of the resulting wine.

Wines of superior vintages from prominent producers and regions will often command much higher prices than those from average vintages. This is especially the case if wines are likely to improve further with some age in the bottle. Some wineries only label with a vintage in better than average years to maintain quality and reputation and in such cases, a vintage is usually considered less important.

Search our list of vintages and read what the wine critics say; simply click on the links below and make an informed purchase!