In reflecting on a year of tasting, I am fascinated by what persists in memory. Which wines have remained vivid and which have been subsumed into the static-like noise of endless tasting-note spreadsheets? For the wines that have left the most indelible impressions, is that imprint about the wine or about me? Perhaps some have remained memorable or meaningful not because of how they tasted, but because of what I was feeling, needing, or paying attention to in the moment. Maybe they are more emotional markers than they are sensory signals.
Getting the opportunity to sort through a year’s worth of tasting notes and wine memories is, of course, a massive privilege, especially in a world where many struggle to put food on the table or a roof overhead. Tasting and evaluating wine can seem almost trivial in the face of so much suffering, conflict, and disaster in the world.
But then there’s the knowledge of what wine represents as a product of time, place, imagination, and human effort. Farming is, by its nature, an act of optimism, and growers can’t help but infuse that hope into every harvest. The field labourer’s dedication and effort, the vines’ own resilience in the face of a changing landscape and climate, and the committed intent of the winemaker are part of what makes wine meaningful.
Covering US wine, in this moment in my country’s history when my sense of national pride has all but vanished, makes these hidden but essential elements of wine that much more important. They remind me that there are parts of America still worth celebrating – that what’s in the glass can sometimes be an expression of my country’s better self: creativity, pluralism, resilience, honest labour. There’s always pleasure and meaning in every glass, but this year, meaning really mattered.
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