vintage

American  

[vin-tij] / ˈvɪn tɪdʒ /

noun

vintages plural

1. the wine from a particular harvest or crop.

2. the annual produce of the grape harvest, especially with reference to the wine obtained.

3. an exceptionally fine wine from the crop of a good year.

4. the time of gathering grapes, or of winemaking.

5. the act or process of producing wine; winemaking.

6. the class of a dated object with reference to era of production or use.

   a hat of last year's vintage.

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adjective

1. of or relating to wines or winemaking.

2. being of a specified vintage.

   Vintage wines are usually more expensive than nonvintage wines.

3. representing the high quality of a past time.

   vintage cars;

   vintage movies.

4. old-fashioned or obsolete.

   vintage jokes.

5. being the best of its kind.

   They praised the play as vintage O'Neill.

verb (used with object)

vintaged, vintaging

1. to gather or harvest (grapes) for wine-making.

   The muscats were vintaged too early.

2. to make (wine) from grapes.

   a region that vintages a truly great champagne.

verb (used without object)

vintaged, vintaging

1. to harvest grapes for wine-making.

vintage British  

/ ˈvɪntɪdʒ /

noun

1. the wine obtained from a harvest of grapes, esp in an outstandingly good year, referred to by the year involved, the district, or the vineyard

2. the harvest from which such a wine is obtained

3. 1. the harvesting of wine grapes

   2. the season of harvesting these grapes or for making wine

4. a time of origin

   a car of Edwardian vintage

5. informal a group of people or objects of the same period

   a fashion of last season's vintage

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adjective

1. (of wine) of an outstandingly good year

2. representative of the best and most typical

   vintage Shakespeare

3. of lasting interest and importance; venerable; classic

   vintage films

4. old-fashioned; dated

verb

1. (tr) to gather (grapes) or make (wine)

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonvintage
  adjective
• unvintaged
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• vintages
  plural

Etymology

Origin of vintage

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English (noun), from Anglo-French, from vint(er) vintner + -age -age; replacing Middle English vendage, vindage, from Anglo-French; Old French vendange, from Latin vīndēmia “grape-gathering,” equivalent to vīn(um) “grape, wine” ( see wine) + dēm(ere) “to take from” (from dē- de- + (e)mere “to buy, obtain, take”) + -ia -y ³

Explanation

A vintage is the specific year that a wine was made. Different vintages are better than others. This word is mainly associated with wine. Some wine drinkers can actually identify a wine’s vintage based on smell or taste. Also, this word can refer to things that are old, yet also kind of cool. An antique car is known as a vintage automobile. There are also vintage bikes and watches. Watch out for the word vintage though: sometimes it just means old or used, like a vintage clothing store.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vintage vintages vintaged vintaging

Weger says her apartment reflects the way she dresses, with layers of art, vintage clothes and accessories, each with its own story.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

Nearly everything in her apartment is secondhand, from the vintage Audubon prints arranged salon-style in the living room to the Navajo rugs and David Shrigley print she found at a garage sale.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

If he had amassed the same number of records, skateboard decks or vintage gaming consoles — all fire hazards — would he have gotten the same eviction warning?

From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026

Now heatwaves are threatening the grape crop and raising costs for the 2026 vintage, he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

A millisecond later, I was standing inside a vintage 1980s phone booth located inside an old Greyhound bus station.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

A resident of wine country, Allen can sip hard-to-find vintages at any of the 400-plus local wineries.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025

In past vintages, fruit sometimes picked after midnight was hauled by refrigerated truck to avoid heat spikes that would cause the grapes to retain too much sugar and raise the alcohol level to tipsy-after-a-glass range.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2025

We don't know yet whether the changes in microbial diversity affect the flavor profiles of these two vintages.

From Salon ● Mar. 27, 2024

Nearly 20 years on, Pursued by Bear has added several vintages to its roster, including a “magic” chardonnay made in a lighter Burgundian style.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 16, 2024

The wine was poor stuff compared to the vintages from the Arbor the house normally served.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

White wine from the clevener grape, understood to be identical with the pineau noir of Burgundy and the Champagne, and vintaged early in October, forms the basis of the sparkling wines manufactured by Kleinoscheg Brothers.

From Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines by Vizetelly, Henry

Here the river acts as a reflector, throwing back the sun’s rays on the lower portions of the slope, where the finest wine is naturally vintaged.

From Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines by Vizetelly, Henry

The cellars no longer contain any of that archaic wine vintaged in 1546, for which they were formerly celebrated.

From Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines by Vizetelly, Henry

A vintage cheese of the months from April to December, since such cheeses don't last long enough to be vintaged like wine by the year.

From The Complete Book of Cheese by Brown, Robert Carlton

The latter is vintaged at Ingelheim, the grapes being pressed under the firm’s own superintendence, and only the must resulting from the first squeeze of the press being used.

From Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines by Vizetelly, Henry

The vintaging is accomplished with great care, and only the juice which flows from the first pressure is employed.

From Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines by Vizetelly, Henry

They war against the quick and dead, Their flying feet are dashed with red, As theirs the vintaging that tread    Before the Lord.

From Ballads in Blue China by Lang, Andrew

When September is vintaging, October is generally sowing.

From The Stones of Venice, Volume II (of 3), by Ruskin, John

They all answered that they were expected, and helped him to cover the figure of the vintaging girl with some strips of old linen which were soaking in a pail of water.

From His Masterpiece by Vizetelly, Ernest Alfred

In the foremost row are unripe grapes that cast the blossom, and others there be that are growing black to vintaging.

From The Odyssey Done into English prose by Lang, Andrew

Related Words

• wine