Climate change and maturity: Why drinking windows shift

The standard

A vintage-specific maturity forecast derives the expected course from the figures of the individual vintage, not from the average of past decades. What counts are sugar ripeness, total acidity, pH value and the state of the tannins at harvest.

Criteria

• The forecast rests on figures from the vintage, not on a rule about the grape variety
• Sugar ripeness and phenolic ripeness are assessed separately
• A higher pH value shortens the expected span
• Older vintages serve as comparison, not as measure

Distinction

Shifted maturity ≠ shortened ageing potential: a wine can become accessible earlier and still keep for a long time. The vintage-specific maturity forecast therefore separates the beginning of a span from its duration. Where it is missing, a drinking window is carried forward out of habit.