House Party in Denver -- Old Vine Wine

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We gather at Melissa's house to explore one of the best kept secrets in the wine world, old vine juice. Melissa lives near City Park.

Older vines create some of the best wines in the world. In almost all examples, expensive, limited, and highly acclaimed wines come from older vines. However, not all old vine juice is pricey. The older the vine the less grapes it produces. This is why many growers focusing on volume, rather than quality will tear up the older vines. The older the vine the more complex the wine. A producer who preserves and cultivates older vines will often mention this on the label. Europeans are notorious for not giving much information about a wine. More and more are starting to accommodate we curious Americans by letting us know the vines are old. In some growing regions of Europe, it was illegal to say the vines are old, but this is changing.

Here is the term 'old vine' in few languages. You might want to print just this little list out when you go to the wine store:

Vieille Vigne – French
alte Reben – German,
Vigna Vecchia – Italian,
Vinha Velha – Portugese,
Viejo or Vieja - Spain

There is no government over sight in the use of the term old vine on domestic bottles. Read the label, ask the wine store salesman if you are not sure. I would say vines are old at 40. Vines can live as long as a human or longer. There are some wines made from 100 year old vines at reasonable prices. You just have to seek them out.

There are many old vine examples from our domestic market too. Look to zinfandel, carignan, and mourvedre. These grapes have been preserved, while many producers have pulled up their old sluggish vines to plant younger, more vigorous vines. These three grapes were used as field blends and can often be found blended together.

Old vine white wines are a little more scarce, but examples are stunning. Spain is the champion of old vines. There is more real estate in Spain under old wine grape vines than any where else in the world! Old vine white grenache (garnacha) are common in Spain and they are remarkable.

Please bring a wine glass, pot luck dish to share, and a bottle of old vine wine.