Are Vintage Charts Outdated?
By Tim on Oct 13, 2006 in Articles
A post to the comments on my review of the 2000 William Hill Cab got me thinking about vintage charts and how maybe they are a bit outdated. With advances in technology, vineyard management, clone selection and global warming, most years produce decent wines. There have been no terrible vintages like in the 20th century with the possible exception of the perception of 2000 in the Napa Valley. Robert Parker rated this year a 78 on his scale; on the high side of “average.” Not terrible by any measure but a lot of wine geeks don’t think any of the wines from that year are worth trying.
So I thought it would be interesting to see what a quick search in the Wine Spectator online database would turn up. I found three wines rated 95 or above from 2000; they are:
- Colgin, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Tychson Hill Vineyard 2000, Score: 96
- Colgin, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Herb Lamb Vineyard 2000, Score: 95
- Shafer, Cabernet Sauvignon, Stags Leap District, Hillside Select 2000, Score: 95
A quick look on either side of the year in question turned up 11 wines for 1999 (Parker 88 vintage) and 13 wines for 2001 (Parker 96). All this means is there are really not many great wines in a year no matter how highly the vintage is rated. Often times there are better values to be had in these average years than in the years everyone agrees are excellent.
My advice is to trust you palate over general vintage assessments and don’t listen to Michel Rolland about who makes great Napa Cab 
