Wine vintage rating 2013
2013 Flowering delayed by three weeks, trickling and small berries leading to yield losses, then the sudden onset of midsummer alternating with storms. In the last phase of grape ripening, botrytis appeared more frequently. In the past, such weather conditions would have turned into a fiasco. Today, the top wineries afford a large, well-rehearsed team who, with strict grape selection, only harvest the completely ripe berries.
Good vintage with very small volumes in Burgundy.
A very good vintage in Piedmont. The grapes developed optimally in a warm September with cool nights and resulted in a fruity, cool wine style. Tuscany produced perfect, aromatic wines under optimal conditions.
Weather in the year 2013
Good filling levels, good wine quality
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.