What Does the Date on the Wine Bottle Mean?
It's the date the grapes were picked.
by Erin Henderson
The manager of my condo building often posts a sign outside her office when she goes on lunch or takes a meeting. "Back in 30 minutes" the print out will read. It always makes me wonder, did she post that one minute ago? Thirty minutes ago? Is she running late because the advertisement went up an hour ago? It would be far more helpful if she posted the time when she will be once again available. Now that I think about it, perhaps she does this intentionally.
My wine students have a similar query, but one that has to do with the date stamp on a wine lable. Every class I teach, inquiring minds can't help but wonder what that date means – does it refer to when the wine was bottled? Shipped to the store...?
It's the date the grapes were picked.
I'm writing this in 2026. This year is considered the 2026 vintage, and grapes that are picked to make wine this year will eventually go into bottles with a lable that reads 2026.
When grapes are harvested, obviously, or maybe not, winemakers need to process them right away. They don't pick grapes when they're ripe and then let them lounge in a refrigerator somewhere. The grapes are picked and immediuately crushed into juice and then fermented into wine.
It doesn't matter if the wine then sits in a barrel or tank for six months or six years, when that wine goes into a bottle and the lable is slapped on, the lable will still read the year (the vintage) in which the grapes were picked. If you purcahse a wine today that shows 2015 on the lable, the grapes were picked in 2015, but for whatever reason the wine has just been sent to stores a decade-plus later.
You may also like: What Does Vintage Mean?
When reading wine reviews, some astute writers will be specific with the drink by date. "Drink 2030-2040," for example. Other reviewers may inadvertently make the matter more confusing for the eager, but uninitiated, wine drinker: "Drink for another 10 years," may seem helpful to the expert, but puzzling for the consumer.
Whenever a wine review suggests a wine can last a certain number of years, without giving a specific date, that writer is usually basing it on the wine's vintage date. So if you see a wine review that suggests your 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon will be good for two more decades, you can assume the expert is suggesting it will last until 2040.
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