To examine the climatic effects on vintage ratings, the most recent published Sotheby’s vintage ratings were used (Stevenson, 2001). The ratings are for 18 of arguably the best wine producing regions in the world and cover 28 categories of wine made from the dominant v. vinifera varieties grown in each region (some regions are divided into sub-regions or varietal categories with separate ratings and others are simply divided into ratings for red and white wines). For example, in the Sotheby’s ratings the Bordeaux region has three separate ratings