Our third annual “cheat sheet” arrives today, with the goal of giving a very basic shorthand into what’s a “good year” and what’s otherwise in the world of wine.

As with last year’s edition, here’s how to use the cheat sheet: Only the last two digits of a year are included to save space, and the list only rarely reaches back into the pre-WWII era, so assume anything you see starting with a zero to be from this century.

All years listed here are exemplary vintages, but those in green with underlining are the cream of the crop, “classic” years that you should consider the very best on the market. (Why green and underlined? So you can tell the difference whether you use a color or black & white printer.)

This list is mostly updated to account for the 2007 vintage and a few 2008s based on early samples. Check back next October for the next update!

Cheers!

Drinkhacker.com wine cheat sheet download options:
drinkhacker-vintage-chart 2009 [doc]
drinkhacker-vintage-chart 2009 [pdf]