The Academy of Wine

How Long Do They Live?  Do They Really Make Better Wine?

Under optimum conditions, grape vines can survive for hundreds of years. Although a vine will produce fruit in its second year, commercial harvest normally begins sometime after the third season; over the next several years, the quality of the harvest is likely to be somewhat inconsistent as the plant develops and root and shoot characteristics vary. A vine that is well established will yield a more predictable harvest. Eventually, vigor will begin to decline due to age and, possibly, to disease.

According to the conventional wisdom these older, less vigorous plants yield less fruit and the concentration of compounds that give the wine flavor and aroma is greater. There is no generally agreed upon minimum age for a vine to be considered “old”; use of the term tends to be relative and can vary greatly depending on numerous considerations.

Older vines are likely to have deeper root systems (if the depth and permeability of the soils allow the roots to penetrate) so they will have better access to ground water, and they will regulate water usage better. Young vines with shallow roots tend to overuse water when it is abundant, produce a lot of foliage, and collapse during drought (without irrigation.) Excessive vegetative growth can result in more vegetal flavor, and high water content can dilute the wine.

It is also argued, however, that development and concentration of flavor and aroma are not necessarily a matter of age but rather of “balance,” meaning that appropriate spacing, trellising, training and pruning of vines can achieve similar results by regulating the vines’ size and configuration in relation to the amount and distribution of foliage and fruit, the amount of sunlight reaching the leaves and grape clusters, etc. Old vines can achieve good balance naturally, whereas young vines require skillful management to achieve balance.

Then again, vines that produce good wine are likely to be kept, and vines that produce inferior wine are likely to be replaced; often a particular varietal, or clonal variety, or rootstock, won’t do well in a certain location and have to be regrafted or replanted, so typically old vines are well matched to excellent sites. Thus, old vines tend to be good vines (at least in part) as a consequence of selection.