Wine vintage rating 2017

What was the vintage 2017 like?

2017 Important for the 2017 vintage: on April 20th and 21st and again 1 week later there were severe frosts in Bordeaux. In many places there was a 1/3 to 1/2 loss of yield. Some châteaux had announced that they would not bottle any 2017 vintage at all! The rest of the year was at least warm enough and the harvest could be stretched over a long period of time in order to get as much ripeness as possible in the grapes. At the right wineries, there is very good quality.

In Piedmont, after a mild, rainy spring, an endless 100-day summer set in. The lack of water resulted in small, highly aromatic grapes and thus a small harvest with very good quality. Also in Tuscany extremely dry and extremely hot.
In Germany there were some major losses due to late frosts. The warm, humid weather in summer led to strict selection in the vineyard. The quality was very good with very small quantities.

Weather in the year 2017

Winter was very cold for the first time in years. Despite a few moments of heavy snowfall, the winter of 2017 ended up being one of the driest ever. There were violent spring storms again. Spring weather set in in mid-March.

In April it was already getting really warm, until the devastating April frosts came. It stayed dry throughout. In May there was a drought with very warm weather, which was problematic for the vegetation. After a drop in temperature, values increase again in June.

July was hot and dry. After that it cooled down significantly. It wasn't until October that late summer returned.

The current stock of wines from the 2017 vintage

All wines from the 2017 vintage are in our own wine cellar and can be shipped immediately or picked up at the wine shop. To the wines of 2017

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 2017 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.

No products found.