Among the many (many) terms used in French winemaking, one that’s often worth keeping an eye out for is the “vieilles vignes” label.
This term translates rather directly into “old vine,” and as you’ve probably guessed, indicates a wine pressed from the fruit of older vines.
What may be less obvious is why winemakers choose to make this distinction, and to go to the effort of putting that info on the bottle.
In this article, we’ll go over some of the factors that make vieilles vignes wines particularly special, and the reasons that winemakers often give these wines pride of place among their other offerings.
The Lifecycle of the Grapevine
But first, a bit of background reading.
After planting, it generally takes grapevines around 3 years to reach maturity, which means producing fruit in sufficient quantity and quality to be suitable for winemaking. During this period, much of the vine’s energy is spent establishing its subterranean root system, which will provide the eventual fruit with the necessary water and nutrients.
The next 25 years or so represent the most vigorous period of the vine’s lifecycle. As the roots continue to work their way deeper into the soil, the plant becomes more firmly established, and yield and quality continue to increase.
After about 25–30 years, the plant begins to enter old age. Yields and vigor gradually decline, but the deep root network means that these older vines are generally quite resistant to drought and other adverse weather effects. While there’s no strict legal definition for what constitutes an “old” vine (which is rather surprising given how much France loves its regulation), it’s around this point, 30 to 40 years of age, that most reputable producers will start to apply the term.
Wines from Older Vines
So, why the interest in older vines?
If you’ve read our article on grape yield, you’ll know that exceptionally high yields tend to result in wines of lower quality. The ‘good stuff’ in the plant is spread across more fruit, resulting in more acidic, unripe fruit with fewer color and flavor compounds.
At 30-40 years of age, well-tended vines are still perfectly healthy. Their extensive root networks allow them plenty of moisture and nutrients, and their strong leafy canopies provide them with all the sunlight energy they require.
The main thing that distinguishes young plants from old is their yield and root network. So while older vines produce fewer grapes, those grapes exhibit greater complexity and more concentrated flavor than their exuberant younger siblings, qualities that are then transferred to the finished wine.
How Long Do Vines Produce?
Despite their deep root networks, as vines age, they tend to become more susceptible to pests, fungus, and viruses. But with favorable climate conditions, a well-looked after grapevine can live for as much as 120 years
Over that period, however, yields will steadily decline. While it’s possible to make great wines from vines as old as 80 and up, it eventually comes down to a question of economics: at what point is the higher quality worth the drastically reduced yield?
The answer varies. Most vieilles vignes wines come from vines between 30 and 50 years old, as beyond this point the vines no longer produce enough wine to sustain themselves economically. But many winemakers in Burgundy will keep vines in production quite a bit longer if they’re still producing, and a rare few domaines even list “très vieilles vignes”, or “very old vines” of 75 years and up.
Really, there are no hard and fast rules. Vines will vary from plant to plant, and producers simply use their intuition, experience, and good judgment to determine when it’s time to switch out the plants.
Conclusion
The keen observer will note that many winemakers do not produce wines labeled vieilles vignes, and this is largely a matter of winemaker preference.
Some vignerons like to combine the grapes of young and old vines to achieve a sort of balance. Some will zealously replace aging vines, simply pruning more vigorously to compensate. And some do not even distinguish between old and young vines, simply replacing those deemed underperforming.
But those that do offer vieille vignes wines generally do so proudly. A vine’s age is not a determining factor in quality, but in the hands of skilled and reputable winemakers, it usually translates to a bottle with a little more magic than its young-vined counterparts.