A reader wrote recently to ask about the LCBO practice of using the same product code (number) for different vintages of the same wine. It seems I had recommended a particular wine, but when the reader went to the LCBO a few weeks later and located the wine using the product code, it was no longer the 2003, but the 2004 that was on the shelf.
"Shouldn't they use a different number for a different vintage?" she asked. And, more important, "Do you think the 2004 is as good as the 2003 that you recommended?"
From a consumer point of view, I'm sympathetic to the idea that every vintage should have its own number. That would mean discarding and replacing numbers on an ongoing basis. Could the LCBO reallocate discarded numbers after a year or so, or would the numbers have to be retired permanently?
Beyond the administrative issues, there's the more general question of vintage, the year the grapes were harvested. Every growing year is different — it's warmer or cooler, there's more or less rain, there's more or less sunshine — and grapes do better or worse. Some years are particularly suitable for certain varieties (which is why many wine regions focus on particular varieties), so that you'll find some vintages in, say, Niagara, produce better whites than reds, or vice versa.
Needless to say, growers and winemakers have techniques to deal with problematic conditions. If it's a dry summer, they can irrigate the vines (as long as it's not prohibited by wine law), and in hot, sunny regions they protect the grapes by managing the foliage. Later, winemakers can modify sugar/alcohol levels and acidity — again, as long as it's permitted by law.
That said, there's a limit to counteracting vintage variation and, in fact, variation is highly valued (except when it's a poor vintage) because it speaks to the authenticity of wine — the idea that it's more a product of nature than something manufactured.
But when it comes to high-volume wines like many of those in the LCBO, you'll find very minor variations from vintage to vintage. To some extent that's because many wines come from regions like Australia, California, South Africa and Chile where annual variations in climate are relatively small compared to some regions in France, Italy and elsewhere, where the climate is more volatile.
In France in 2003, for example, the summer was torrid and the grapes ripened far earlier than usual. French 2003 wines are atypically rich and concentrated, but they're authentic, in the sense that they wore their vintage very clearly.
For the French 2003s in the LCBO, vintage was important but, as far as many wines are concerned, it's not. In fact, some brands are consistent year after year by design, simply because many consumers don't want change. Once they like the style of a particular wine, they expect to find it year after year.
So, should the LCBO use a different product code for different vintages? Maybe. Is vintage important in LCBO wines? Sometimes.
It feels good to be able to give definite answers to questions like these.
Four regions and three vintages are represented in today's quartet.