Batch to batch variability

The observation by Cwdjrxyz about the possibility of batch to batch variability being responsible for reports of oxidized 1975 Mouton got me thinking about this issue generally.

I have in the past opened bottles side by side specifically to look for inter-bottle variability, which I have readily found and other experienced tasters confirmed. This is a no-brainer given that sometimes one bottle will be clearly corked while others are not; all it takes is one tainted cork.

Variability can be attributed of course to several other factors. Because I have purchased the test bottles from the same retailer, storage and handling can be likely ruled out.

So, that leaves me to wonder how significant batch to batch variability is.

Intuitively, a winery that makes 185,000 cases of a product (e.g., the 90-point Wine Spectator rated 2000 Columbia Crest Chardonnay Columbia Valley Grand Estates) cannot make the stuff in one try.

So, intuitively again, no matter how hard the wine makers try, they cannot produce batches that are identical.

Which then leads to the question, is the wine in each batch really the same stuff?

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