Wine Arcana

Concept

Old vines

Also known as Vieilles vignes

Old vines are grapevines that have remained in production for many years. Their value can include established roots, accumulated knowledge of a site, distinctive planting material, and a record of regional farming. Age is useful information about a vineyard, while grape quality still depends on health, water, crop, weather, and management.

Defining and documenting age

In 2024, the International Organisation of Vine and Wine adopted a definition of an old grapevine as an officially documented plant at least thirty-five years old. For grafted vines, the rootstock–scion connection must have remained undisturbed for that period. Its definition of an old vineyard requires at least 85% of the plants to qualify.1. OIV, Resolution OIV-VITI 703-2024, definitions of an old grapevine and an old vineyard. This is an international standard and recommendation; the wording on a bottle also needs to be read within the relevant country's rules or certification programme.

South Africa's Old Vine Project recognizes vineyards at least thirty-five years old through its Certified Heritage Vineyard programme. Documenting planting history lets growers identify fruit from a particular surviving parcel. A vineyard can contain replacement plants, so the date of the original planting and the age of every vine are different questions.

What time can change

A vine's roots and permanent framework develop within the conditions of its site. Soil depth, restrictive layers, water supply, and rootstock determine where roots can grow. Additional years do not guarantee deeper roots where the soil profile prevents them. Dry farming and irrigation also influence the water available to an established plant.

Repeated propagation can preserve differences within a variety. Old parcels may contain plant material selected by earlier generations of growers, making them useful sources for massal and clonal selection. That value depends on identifying the material and its health, as well as retaining diversity.

The OIV's resolution explicitly identifies gaps in research on vine longevity, yield, and wine quality. Comparisons need to account for site, variety, rootstock, planting density, management, and missing vines. A lower yield per hectare can reflect gaps in a block rather than a desirable change in every surviving plant. Crop load remains the relationship between the fruit carried and the vine's capacity to ripen it.

Keeping a vineyard productive

Preservation requires continuing work. Pruning must renew fruiting wood while maintaining a usable framework. Disease, damage, and lost plants can make replacement necessary. Grapevine leafroll illustrates why conserving planting material and propagating healthy vines must be considered together.

The Old Vine Project combines recognition with research and training for the people who care for these vineyards. Commercial recognition can also give a grower a reason to retain a parcel whose grapes previously entered an anonymous blend. This connects preservation with livelihoods and farming decisions, rather than treating old vines solely as picturesque objects.

A wine-growing example

Franschhoek provides a documented case. Boekenhoutskloof's Sémillon 2023 drew on vineyards with different planting dates, soils, and exposures. The resulting wine also reflected pressing, fermentation, and maturation choices. Its heritage vineyards identify the source material; the cellar still helps explain the finished texture.

For a drinker, an old-vine claim is most informative when it gives a verified planting date, a location, and a clear account of the source vineyard. It supplies context without assigning a fixed flavour or a rank of quality.

Sources