Tip Sheet for Handicapping Wines With just a little knowledge about your

favorite categories of wine, and basic intelligence about the weather during a

particular growing season—this information is easily available in harvest

reports published on-line by producers around the world—you can boost your odds

for buying great bottles. First, a bit of background: 

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.&nbsp; This is

especially the case in much of Australia, southern and eastern Spain, Napa

Valley and southern France, just to name a few examples.&nbsp; So a

particularly hot summer and harvest in a very warm region is quite often a BAD

thing.&nbsp; What you want to look for is a long, steady growing season, which

makes for balanced, full-flavored wines with aromatic complexity and verve. &nbsp;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.&nbsp; 







In general, moderate climates yield

lighter, fresher wines that rely on their acidity for backbone: &nbsp;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. 



Of course, some regions, such as Bordeaux, Southern France, Paso Robles, can be

a bit more difficult to handicap, as vineyard owners gain flexibility by being

able to blend two or more grape varieties that have different ripening curves. 







Based on these variables, here’s a tip

sheet for consumers: 

For

syrah, look for wines from

cooler microclimates in hot areas (California, Washington State, South Africa,

Australia), or from protected spots in cooler regions (New Zealand). &nbsp;Hot, dry years raise the risk of exaggerated

alcohol, roasted or downright raisiny flavors due to dehydrated grape skins,

and very low levels of acidity. 







For

barbera and dolcetto,

two food-friendly sets of wines prized for their palate-cleansing juiciness,

avoid vintages that feature hot weather in August and September.&nbsp; Too much heat can compromise acidity in the

wines and send grape sugars (and, ultimately, alcohol levels) soaring.&nbsp; The same goes for Beaujolais, which is all about energy and easy drinkability, not

weight and power. 







Similarly, for white wines from France, such as Burgundy, the Loire Valley and

Alsace, be suspicious of the very ripe years, where high alcohol and low

acidity can blur the aromatic lift and distinctive soil character of the wines.&nbsp; Even when big, hot-vintage reds have adequate

balance, they generally require bottle aging to resolve their substantial

tannins.&nbsp; These are rarely the years that

provide fresh, delineated wines for early drinking pleasure.

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