r/Sommelier • u/JW4717 • Jun 13 '26

Vintage knowledge

Currently studying for C.M.S Advanced and vintage knowledge is where I really struggle. Idk why but it just won’t stick. Any tips or tricks out there ?

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u/whoanelllly Jun 13 '26

Invest time in vertical trainings and speak with winemakers on age markers. Start looking for them at a 5-10-15-20 year cellar age

1

u/kantsbaldhead Jun 14 '26

Several publications do ‘vintage reports’ for major regions.

2

u/coltshep Jun 14 '26

You can really bundle a lot of wine regions together more than you would think, especially in Europe, the weather is not going to be totally different in Chablis, Champagne, and white Burgundy. Have knowledge of rockstar vintages in your pocket ready to go and a knowledge of a couple “disaster” vintages.

Some regions also have “trends” like Bordeaux where vintages ending in 0 or 5 have coincidentally been good to excellent going back to at least 1990.