Wine vintage rating 2018

What was the vintage 2018 like?

2018 The consistently high temperatures of recent years have allowed the grapes in the classic wine regions to ripen perfectly. Only drought and weather events such as heavy rain, hail and frost affect wine production - mostly in terms of quantity and not quality.

In Bordeaux and Piedmont one had to react to precipitation and work carefully in the vineyard. Spring and early summer were tropically warm and humid in Bordeaux - ideal breeding ground for vine diseases. But the second half of the summer was very dry and hot and ultimately resulted in another top vintage. The summer in northern Italy was initially characterized by rainfall. Midsummer only came in the second half. The Piedmontese wines are lighter this year, but fine and elegant. In Tuscany, too, there was initially too much precipitation. A dry, not too warm August followed later. The harvest started late and produced rather light, fruity wines. In Germany there were problems with too much drought in some places.
Overall, 2018 was another very good vintage.

Weather in the year 2018

The year started with a storm, lots of rain and mild temperatures. In February there was another snowy cold snap. Temperatures also dropped below zero in the south for a few weeks. The amount of snow reached record levels during March. It wasn't until April that spring began to set in.

Warmth and rain again in May and June. But towards the end of June, midsummer set in. In the last days of July, temperatures climbed to record highs and drought prevailed in northern Europe.

The stable, very dry midsummer weather lasted into October.

The current stock of wines from the 2018 vintage

All wines from the 2018 vintage are in our own wine cellar and can be shipped immediately or picked up at the wine shop. To the wines of 2018

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 2018 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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