Have you ever stopped at a bottle and wondered what “single vineyard wine” actually means? Even for wine professionals, labels can be confusing. This term appears often, but it is not always clearly explained.
Here is what you need to know about single vineyard wine and why it matters.
Where the confusion starts
That is a tricky question regarding that sometimes the term „single vineyard” is not even stated on the label rather the name of the vineyard itself. And the difficulty starts here as we have to be aware of the vineyards names or at least assumed this is a single vineyard wine.
In regions like Mosel or Burgundy, vineyard names carry significant weight. If you know them, you can immediately identify them.
Most of the times the price can give us a clue if we are dealing with such bottles as usually they are more expensive.
And now we have arrived to our main question, why does it cost more and what does it mean?
Definition of single vineyard wine
The term „single vineyard” is used in the wine industry, referring that the grapes harvested for that bottle comes from one specific vineyard in that particular region or appellation. It means the grapes grown there, have been isolated from all other vineyards due to its superiority.
It usually indicates that the winemaker gives more attention to the grapes grown on that particular site, which ultimately results in a higher quality wine. These vineyards are special because of that terroir (the combination of soil, topographical features, water quality, sunlight and the daily temperatures). When all of these elements are in harmony, it will result a higher quality wine which will explain the difference on the price too.
Of course, the more labor intense work will cost more as these sites are hand-harvested and has bigger potential of aging these wines (when the wines are aged in barrels and/or bottles, it always costs more for the winery which will reflect on the price as well).
Single vineyard does not mean single variety
This is a common misunderstanding. We have to mention the single vineyard on the label doesn’t mean we are dealing with a single varietal wine! It can be a blend of different grape varieties as long as they are from the same vineyard. Most of the times however these wines are single varietal to give back the true characteristics of the variety and the site where it is grown.
Good news: In France, classification systems can help.
Terms like Grand Cru and Premier Cru often indicate wines from specific vineyards, especially in Burgundy. These are classic examples of single vineyard wines, even if the phrase itself does not appear on the label.
So if you are looking for these wines but don’t speak French, just seek out to these bottles. I promise, you won’t be disappointed!
The Author
Great article. Thanks. In italy you have also the crus in barolo and barbaressco too
That is true, and fortunatelly single vineyards are getting recognise more and more all around the World!