One of the things I like about wine (aside from drinking it) is that it’s an endless journey.
Every bottle is a new experience — sometimes wonderful, sometimes all right, sometimes disappointing, but always an experience I can tuck away in my memory for future use.
I feel I’m perpetually on this learning curve that sometimes seems steeper than ever. I can’t think of anything more pointless than aspiring to know everything about wine, because you just can’t keep up with it. Every day, it seems, a new winery opens. Every year’s harvest is different.
And winemakers constantly catch you off-guard with something new.
It’s a great journey, and at this time of year it’s time to pause, take stock, and think ahead. It’s time for my annual vinous resolutions, so here’s a six-pack:
First, I’ll continue to resist being called a wine “expert.” It’s a word often used when I’m introduced publicly, but it makes me shudder because I know how much I don’t know about wine.
I also shudder when I read websites and books where writers and reviewers describe themselves as “experts” or, even worse, “young experts.” What the heck is a “young expert?” Is it better than being an “old expert?” Is it someone whose expertise is to be that much more admired because they achieved it before reaching 40?
I resolve not to be a young expert in 2005.
Second, I’ll try to make my wine reviews as accessible as possible. It’s a constant temptation to describe wines with a string of offbeat descriptors, but no one ever bought a bottle of wine because it tasted of earth, a sweaty saddle, or nutmeg. It’s the style (smooth and fruity, full-bodied, off-dry, etc.) that most people are interested in, and that’s the criterion they use when they choose wine. I hope readers will keep me in line here.
Third, and along the same lines, I’ll try to find mainstream food matches for the wines I review. It just looks unimaginative and boring to refer constantly to red meat, spicy chicken, Thai food, and pasta. But I know it’s not helpful to recommend a wine for herb-encrusted sea bass or grilled loin of kangaroo with a guava jelly. Just read the food recommendation for the style of food, not the actual dish.
Fourth, I’ll continue to push for more wines under screwcap and to urge you to buy them (assuming the wine is good value), so as to convince nervous marketing people that consumers know a good thing when they see it. The British have set the pace for innovations in wine ever since they discovered Bordeaux eight centuries ago, and virtually put it on the map. They later followed by popularizing Champagne, sherry, and port, and now they’ve rallied to screwcaps in a big way. It’s time the trend gathered a bit of steam here.
Fifth, I’ll do more “Ottawa Tastes” this year — asking you all to taste a specified wine and send me your ratings. The last one I did was a couple of years ago and, as I recall, 600 readers sent in ratings.
Finally, I’ll lay off Yellow Tail.
Four good values today, starting with a truly great Champagne. If you haven’t splurged yet, this is the one.