Older vineyards produce smaller yields than crops harvested from more vigorous young vines, but many believe the quality is higher.Slavica Stajic/iStockPhoto / Getty Images
Wellness gurus and birthday cards love to tell us that age is really just a number. We’re only as old as we feel, right? For winemakers, vine age can be a different matter. That number can trigger a sale.
Older vineyards produce smaller yields than crops harvested from more vigorous young vines, which provides the raw material to make more concentrated and richer wines.
And though many believe old vines produce better quality wine, there’s no consensus on when a vine can be deemed old. Thirty-five years of age is the threshold for preservation organizations, such as South Africa’s Old Vines Project and the Barossa Old Vine Charter in Australia, which seek to protect and promote these resources.
California’s Historic Vineyard Society established a registry of 50-plus vineyards in 2011, after a number of established vineyards were uprooted to plant pinot noir by producers looking to take advantage of spiking sales following the success of the movie Sideways.
That said, precious few wine laws regulate usage of the term “old vines” on a wine label. The same goes for vieilles vignes, vinhas velhas and alte Reben, referring to “old vines” in French, Portuguese and German respectively. It can mean just about any age, from 25 years to more than 150.
From a quality and profitability ratio, vineyards that are between 20 and 40 years old are typically seen as peak performers, with well-established roots and more consistent growing cycles. As vine age increases and grape yields drop, there’s less incentive to keep the vineyard going, unless that fruit fetches a premium price. The best business decision may be to replant, which puts vineyards planted to produce competitive varieties like chardonnay and cabernet under serious scrutiny from accountants.
In warmer, arid regions, such as California, Australia and South Africa, old vines – including 100-year-old vineyards, sometimes labelled “ancient vines” or “centenarian vines” to relay their old-timer status – are more prevalent than in cooler and wetter spots, where frost, winter injury and diseases greatly reduce a vine’s life expectancy.
That’s the reason we commonly see “old vine” releases of zinfandel from California, shiraz from Australia and chenin blanc from South Africa today. Because such heritage vineyards are under financial strain to stay the course, preservation societies have cropped up in these regions.
It’s worth noting those three grape varieties were introduced with the earliest vineyards planted in those countries. Chardonnay, for instance, doesn’t enjoy as long of a history and good quality vine material wasn’t extensively available to growers until the 1980s.
It goes without saying that not all old vine examples are good examples, but the noteworthy ones deliver more complexity, character and texture as a result of vineyards that are allowed to flaunt their age.
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Christopher Waters