Wine vintage rating 2006

What was the vintage 2006 like?

In 2006 there was basically a role reversal between France and Italy compared to the previous year. In Bordeaux, the wines were more heterogeneous, the best and most consistent are Saint Julien, Pauillac and St. Emilion. Not as dense and concentrated as the year before, but with many wines with harmony, power and structure. The course of the year began with a cold winter and later offered a warm first half of summer. The grapes ripened early and were harvested early in changeable weather. The grape variety Merlot always performs better under such conditions. Very drinkable wines rather elegant and supple than intense and powerful. The wines in Burgundy are of a similar style.

An ideal September helped the Champagne to achieve very good results. Rains in the summer in Piedmont made a lot of work in the vineyard necessary. A perfect late summer followed, which noticeably improved the quality of the grapes. In Tuscany, too, the optimal weather conditions for the grape harvest meant the turnaround to high quality after a previously changeable year.

Austria: after a cold May, flowering was a bit late in June. However, the hot July brought the grapes ripening again, and the red wine grapes began to change color early on. Fortunately, the cool, wet weather at the end of August to the beginning of September did not damage the grapes, but instead delayed ripening again. But then the sun came out again and a perfect vintage became possible.

Weather in the year 2006

At the end of January 2006 there was a remarkable cold snap with lots of snow. Southern France had Scandinavian conditions. The beginning of spring was delayed until the end of March. From then on there were mild to early summer temperatures. May and June turned hot and dry.

The hot weather continued into July and it could have been another perfect summer. But August offered the exact opposite of the year to date. Rainy, fresh weather ended the summer.

Summer weather did not return until early September. The consistently warm weather up to October was then increasingly accompanied by rainfall. Not an easy year for viticulture.

The current stock of wines from the 2006 vintage

All wines from the 2006 vintage are in our own wine cellar and can be shipped immediately or picked up at the wine shop. To the wines of 2006

Good filling levels, good wine quality

The fill level of an old vintage wine reveals important information on the drinkability of the wine.
Of course, the good condition of a wine from an old vintage depends on excellent storage. Above all, the wine must not have frequently changed cellars. Ideally, the wine will have rested in one and the same wine cellar.

But also the cork that sits in each individual bottle is very important. A perfect cork has few pores and keeps the wine stable. If an inferior cork happens to have been used in a bottle, the porous surface will begin to soak up wine and allow micro-quantities of the liquid to evaporate over the decades. Poor fill levels are the result.

A poor fill level therefore also indicates a high risk that the wine bottle could soon begin to leak.

The fill levels explained:
In the bottle neck (high fill to base neck) about 2 cm is perfect for wines.
Top and upper shoulder, ([very] top shoulder), approx. 3 cm is very good for very old wines.
Medium shoulder (mid shoulder), about 4 cm is only acceptable for rare top wines and in individual cases.
Everything below the red line should not be offered any more.

Wine rating

Do you have a 2006 vintage in your wine cellar and would you like to know how much it is worth?

Here are a few tips: in order to still have any value, the bottle must be leakproof. The wine must not be cloudy. It should be of good quality (not supermarket wine).

Search for the wine online without specifying the vintage. If it is a well-known winery, you will find the wine immediately and also the price you have to pay for the current vintage. If the current wine costs from EUR 20.00 upwards, that's a good sign.

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