h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"Even in a year when the climate is perfect, all it produces is excellent grapes, not outstanding wine. It is up to winemakers to do that."

This statement above is pretty much the opposite of what is now commonly regarded as fact: that the wine is produced in the vineyard.

Even the best of winemakers cannot achieve greatness with average grapes, while an average winemaker can produce a great wine from grapes of exceptionally favourable attributes.

Such was the case in the 1998 Hawke's Bay vintage, and it is perhaps interesting to note that such a confluence of weather conditons occurs very rarely in the region, less than once every ten years.

Therefore the term "climate" in the cited statement is also incorrect, as it was the weather of 1998 that favoured red grape quality, not the climate (ie. the long term average of weather conditions).