Tip Sheet for Handicapping Wines

In very warm climates, the challenge for the grower is to get the grape skins sufficiently ripe before grape sugars skyrocket and acidity levels plunge.  This is especially the case in much of Australia, southern and eastern Spain, Napa Valley and southern France, just to name a few examples.  So a particularly hot summer and harvest in a very warm region is quite often a BAD thing.  What you want to look for is a long, steady growing season, which makes for balanced, full-flavored wines with aromatic complexity and verve.  American wine drinkers are obsessed with the so-called great vintages, but wines from average or even cool years are often more fun to drink in their youth and can also be pleasant surprises with time in bottle. 

In general, moderate climates yield lighter, fresher wines that rely on their acidity for backbone:  pinot noir from New Zealand and Oregon, Albariño from the Atlantic northwest of Spain, and riesling from just about anywhere. These wines don’t benefit from freakishly hot weather either.