If you have ever been to a wine making country and have driven past vast fields of grapes and vineyards, then you may find it hard to imagine that a wine could ever be rare. However, there are certain factors that can make a particular bottle of wine a rare vintage.
For one, it may be based on the winery. Single vineyard wines are much rarer than multi-plotted wines. The size of the vineyard also plays an important role. Certain wineries will only offer a limited number of bottles each year. If one winery produces 300 bottles of a certain wine and another produces 30,000 of a different wine, then obviously the wine produced in a smaller batch is a much rarer wine.
The quality of the grapes is another factor that can contribute to the rarity of the wine. Some years are great for wine production, other years are terrible; hail, rain, frost, and scorching sun can drastically impact how well the grapes grow. If the weather has been particularly bad then there will be less grapes to harvest.
Pests can also wreak havoc on harvests. They can hinder the vine’s ability to produce a healthy harvest, and the grapes themselves can also be eaten away. If a winery has been plagued by pests during a particular year then fewer grapes will pass the quality checks, this means less wine will be produced, and the wine that is produced will be rarer.
Wine From Rare Grapes
The grapes the wine is made from can also be rare themselves. These grapes are also sometimes called obscure, esoteric, indigenous or even ‘forgotten varieties’.
Despite the fact there are countless grape varieties around the world, approximately 70% of the world’s wine comes from roughly 30 varieties of grape. The smaller, rarer, and lesser known grapes are usually only used to produce and sell wines locally, hence making them rare wines.
You will most likely have heard of Pinot Grigio, Barolo and Primitovo from Italy, but you may not have heard of Vitovska from Friuli, Nosiola from Trentino or Fumin from Aosta. These are much lesser known varieties, which make much rarer wines. They may be more difficult to get hold of, with higher price tags, but they will offer your taste buds new experiences.