Bordeaux Vintage Chart: What It Scores and Why

A Bordeaux vintage chart rates the growing season across a whole region, not the specific bottle in your rack, and its most useful function is to help you decide what to do next with your wine. While a vintage score indicates the general quality of a year's harvest, the accompanying maturity call tells you whether a wine is likely ready to drink, needs more time, or is past its peak. Wine Spectator, for example, scores Bordeaux on 100 points and attaches one of five drink recommendations. Hold means Most of the ageworthy wines have yet to fully mature; they should improve over time, Drink means Most of the wines can be enjoyed now and will see little or no improvement if stored, and Past Peak means Most of the wines are declining. These two readings move independently. Understanding both the quality score and the maturity recommendation is key to making informed decisions about your Bordeaux collection.

What does a Bordeaux vintage chart actually score?

A Bordeaux vintage chart scores your general odds across a region, not an individual wine. "Average vintages produce over 700 million bottles of wine" from "65 appellations of Bordeaux wine". A single score for any given year is a broad summary of this immense production.

The importance assigned to vintage is varied and disputed. For wine produced in regions at the colder climatic limits of wine production, vintage can be "very important" because "some seasons will be much warmer and produce riper grapes and better wine". Conversely, a "poor growing season can lead to grapes failing to reach optimal ripeness, resulting in grape juice that is higher in acid and lower in sugar, which affects the quality of the resulting wine".

However, the influence of vintage may sometimes be exaggerated, as Frank J. Prial, a New York Times wine columnist, declared the vintage chart to be dead, writing that "winemakers of the world have rendered the vintage chart obsolete". Bill Marsano wrote that "winemakers now have the technology and skills to make good and even very good wines in undistinguished years". James Laube of Wine Spectator asserted that "even an average vintage can yield some grand wines". This suggests that while a vintage chart provides a general overview, specific producers can always outperform the regional average.

How does a vintage chart help you decide what to do with your Bordeaux?

A vintage chart helps you decide whether to open, hold, or sell your Bordeaux by providing a maturity recommendation alongside a quality score. As described above, Wine Spectator uses terms like Hold, Drink, and Past Peak to guide your consumption decisions. If a wine is in its Drink window, you can consider opening it. If it is still in Hold, you might decide to cellar it longer to allow for further improvement, or you might consider selling it to someone who is willing to wait. If a wine is Past Peak, you might prioritize drinking it soon or consider that its market value may be declining.

Roman Weil, a professor at the University of Chicago, tested the hypothesis that experienced wine drinkers "cannot distinguish in blind tastings the wine of years rated high from those of years rated low". Weil found that tasters "could not distinguish between wines of good and bad vintages except for Bordeaux wines". Even when a distinction could be made, the match between tasters' individual assessments and the charts' rankings was "little better than tossing a coin". When these tests were replicated with wine experts, including French wine academics, the results were "again the same as chance".

Despite these findings, Weil does not consider a vintage chart "useless". He suggests using one to help "find good buys in wine", as wine made in years considered "worse than average for vintages may be priced far below its actual quality". This insight can be valuable for both buyers looking for value and sellers looking to understand potential market perceptions. You can explore wines entering their optimal drinking window on our drink now page or learn more about how to sell fine wine from your collection.

What affects a Bordeaux vintage's quality and longevity?

Climate, terroir, grape varieties, winemaking practices and, crucially, storage conditions together shape the quality and longevity of a Bordeaux vintage.

Bordeaux benefits from an "excellent environment for growing vines" with an "Atlantic Climate, also known as an oceanic climate". The region's geological foundation is "limestone, leading to a soil structure that is heavy in calcium". The concept of terroir is pivotal in wine production in Bordeaux, with top estates aiming to make "terroir driven wines that reflect the place they are from, often from grapes collected from a single vineyard". The soil is composed of "gravel, sandy stone, and clay", and the "best vineyards are located on the well-drained gravel soils that are frequently found near the Gironde river".

Red Bordeaux generally comes from a blend of grapes, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec, and Carménère the permitted varieties. On the Left Bank, Cabernet Sauvignon typically "dominates the blend", while Merlot tends to "predominate in Saint-Émilion, Pomerol and the other right bank appellations". Winemaking involves sorting, destemming, crushing, and often chaptalization. Fermentation usually occurs in "temperature controlled stainless steel vats", followed by pressing and transfer to barriques (225-litre oak barrels) for aging. Blending is an integral part of the Bordeaux wine making process, mixing different grape varieties and wine from different vineyard parts.

Beyond production, storage conditions significantly impact a wine's shelf life and quality. The AWRI Technical Note TN09 notes that "Excessive storage temperatures will have a marked effect on the shelf life of bottled wine". Marais (1986) observed "faulty flavours and decreasing overall quality after 12 months’ storage of wine at 30°C". Temperatures "in excess of 40°C will induce visual and sensory changes to a wine in only a matter of days (Ough 1986". Generally, "any storage place where the temperature exceeds 25°C for long periods and 40°C for short periods can affect wine quality (Ough 1992". Amon and Simpson (1986) recommend storing bottled wine with the cork in contact with the wine in a cool (15-20°C), dry location. Exposure to significantly higher temperatures can also cause "Leakage of wine and/or movement of cork stoppers due to thermal expansion of wine", which affects appearance and marketability (AWRI Technical Note TN09). You can learn more about wine ullage levels and their implications for condition.

Light exposure is another concern. Maujean and Seguin (1983) demonstrated that "flavour (goûts de lumière) is due to the formation of volatile sulfur compounds" (AWRI Technical Note TN09). Dozon and Noble (1989) found that still white wines in green glass developed a "statistically significant level of the off flavour" after 31.1 hours of exposure to fluorescent lamps, while those in clear glass developed it after only 3.3 hours (AWRI Technical Note TN09). Direct sunlight is far more potent, providing 4286 times the amount of UV-A radiation as fluorescent lamps (Gordon Watson, cited in AWRI Technical Note TN09). The AWRI recommends storing wine under insulated and/or temperature- controlled storage conditions, which minimise fluctuations in both temperature and humidity (AWRI Technical Note TN09). For comprehensive advice, consult our guide on how to store wine.

What are the main Bordeaux classifications?

Bordeaux has several classifications that primarily rank producers, not vintages, but understanding them provides crucial context for the region's wines. The list includes four main classifications:

• The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855: This classification covers red wines of Médoc and sweet wines of Sauternes-Barsac. It was made at the request of Emperor Napoleon III for the Exposition Universelle de Paris and ranked wines into five categories according to price. The five First Growth red wines are Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Margaux, Château Latour, Château Haut-Brion, and Château Mouton Rothschild, which rose from second to first growth in 1973. Château d'Yquem ranks as a superior first growth among the sweet white wines.
• The 1955 Official Classification of St.-Émilion: Updates come approximately once every ten years. The highest category, Premier Grand Cru Classé A, initially included Château Ausone and Château Cheval Blanc. In the 2012 classification, Château Angélus and Château Pavie also became members.
• The 1959 Official Classification of Graves: An initial classification in 1953 gave way to a revision in 1959.
• The Cru Bourgeois Classification: This began as an unofficial classification, gained official status, and was last updated in 2003. However, legal challenges led to its annulment in 2007. As of 2007, plans existed to revive it as an unofficial classification, and a new list appeared in September 2010 as a recognition of quality, with a yearly reappraisal. It is no longer a recognized classification.
• The Cru artisan Classification: The European Union recognized this classification in June 1994, with publication on January 11, 2006. Revision is due every 10 years. The initial list of 44 Cru Artisans grew to 50 in 2012.

It is worth noting that Pomerol has no official classification, but some of its wines, "notably Château Pétrus and Château Le Pin, are often considered as being equivalent to the first growths of the 1855 classification, and often sell for even higher prices". You can explore the region's producers and appellations using our Bordeaux producer atlas.

How does Bordeaux wine get to market?

Many top Bordeaux wines sell en primeur, meaning the buyer pays in advance. This system allows buyers to secure wines before bottling and release. Due to their longevity, fairly large production, and an established reputation, Bordeaux wines "tend to be the most common wines at wine auctions". This makes them a significant part of the secondary market. Understanding the auction process can be beneficial for both buying and selling, and you can learn more in our guide on how to buy wine at auction. For insights into market trends, consult our live fine wine market index.

To make the most of your Bordeaux collection, use our vintage maturity charts to track the optimal drinking windows for your wines.