Old Vines
“Old vines” is a term that appears often on wine labels.
Today it is not hard to find an old-vine Douro or an old-vine Alentejo. What is really difficult is discovering just how old those vines are that give rise to old-vine reds and old-vine whites.
What are old vines?
So what exactly are old vines? The answer is not simple or clear-cut, because opinions are divided. Some claim that a vine becomes old from 25 years of age, since it is around then that its yield may begin to decline.
Now I ask: if at 25 they are old, then what are they at 75 or 100? My view on this is simple: I compare the age of vines with the age of a person. Seen that way, old vines, for me, begin at around 65-70 years — that is, when they enter old age.
After all those years the vines acquire the wisdom of time, for the plant gradually develops a root system that protects it from the adversities and constant climatic changes taking place above the soil.
The characteristics of old vines
There are two main characteristics of old vines. The chief one, in my opinion, is the one I mentioned above: a root system that protects the plant from the adversities occurring above the soil. The other characteristic is that they yield less.
I would stress, however, that where yield is concerned much depends on how the grower tends and manages the vineyard. By producing fewer grapes, all the energy generated goes into that smaller quantity, resulting in a better and more balanced ripening of the grapes.
Many of these vines also predate the era of clones: they are massal selections, the result of the vegetative propagation of the best plants of the vineyard itself over the decades. This creates a valuable genetic diversity that contributes directly to the complexity and typicity of the wines. And since, over time, natural selection has allowed only the most resilient plants to survive, they are often more balanced vines that self-regulate and ask for less intervention.
Wine from old vines
A wine from old vines is usually a wine of greater concentration, in terms of the qualities a good wine should have — that is, greater intensity of flavour, of elegance and of complexity.
Unfortunately an old-vine wine is normally of small production, with the added problem that there are fewer and fewer of these vines. Ten years ago it was much easier to find old vines in the Douro.
In the Alentejo they were always hard to find, except in areas such as Portalegre or Vidigueira, or others where the cultivation of the vine was not wiped out during the 1930s, in the time of the wheat campaigns under the Estado Novo.
Keeping an old vineyard is, at heart, an act of economic resistance: it yields little, demands specialised labour and is rarely mechanised. But for anyone working in a value segment, it justifies a premium positioning — exclusivity, history, terroir and authenticity are today the most sought-after attributes for those who drink with discernment. The return is not immediate, but it builds long-term value that few assets in the vineyard can match.
The quality of wine from old vines
The quality of the wine obtained from old vines is beyond question, not least because an old-vine red or an old-vine white is always the object of much attention and commitment from the producer, whether in the vineyard or in the cellar, where the winemaker usually chooses the best barrels to age these wines that carry all the wisdom and history of the vineyard into a bottle.
Now take note: if you are used to simpler, more direct wines, these old-vine wines may not be your “thing”.
I set you a challenge. Now that you know a little more about old vines, try to interpret these wines and let yourself be carried by the flavour of history… and I promise you will begin a new stage in your journey through the fascinating world of wine.
From the page to the glass
- Cabo da Roca Centenary Vines — Baga from a 96-year-old vineyard, 24 km from the Atlantic. Foot-trodden in lagar.
- Monte Cascas Vinha das Lameiras — A 94-year-old Douro vineyard that yields one tonne. Lagar, 24 months in French oak.
- Monte Cascas Vinha do Quinto — 96% Baga from a century-old vineyard, 9,260 vines per hectare, two tonnes.
