Old Vines

Occasionally a wine label will state that the wine within is made from old vines, like “Old Vine Zinfandel”. What up with that? After grape vines reach a certain age they start to produce less fruit, but the quality of that fruit is better. Most of the time they are pulled up and new ones planted, because they produce so little and the additional work required to maintain them, just doesn’t make it worthwhile. Some producers, however, choose to keep these vines and continue to make wine from them and since the quality of fruit is better, so is the wine. But guess what? The limited production and excess work involved is passed on to the consumer in the cost of the wine, so they’re more expensive.