c.1450, "harvest of grapes, yield of wine from a vineyard," from Anglo-Fr.
vintage (1353), from O.Fr.
vendage "yield from a vineyard," from L.
vindemia "a gathering of grapes, yield of grapes," from comb. form of
vinum "wine" + stem of
demere "take off" (from
de- "from, away from" +
emere "to take;" see
exempt). Sense shifted to "age or year of a particular wine" (1746), then to a general sense of "being of an earlier time" (1883). Used of cars since 1928.