It’s that time when people attempt to make sense of the passage of time over the past year. We think about what’s been achieved, or perhaps not achieved or let slip and what to focus on in the following year.
Spending time each year in both Canada and Europe, I attempt to share information in a supportive way about wine from areas where I have some familiarity. In this way, wine can open doors to culture, art, geography, history, people and understanding. Having the opportunity to lead a tasting of Canadian wine in London is one example of this.
One of the major experiences shared this year by the areas I am familiar with has been the challenging effect of climate change: wildfires in Western Canada and hailstorms and diminished rainfall in parts of France. Addressing nature’s unpredictability through science, intellect, creativity, and imagination will be a major challenge for the wine industry going forward.
At the same time, I see the continual quest for improving wine quality. This is a topic of great interest to me that I discuss with an oenologue friend in France, who shares his knowledge and helps me increase my understanding of the subtleties of wine making.
This common search for insight, whether on a global level or personally in the glass, is one of the ongoing pleasures and challenges of deepening my learning about wine and winemaking.
A big thank you to the wine makers and many others who have generously given their time during the year to discuss wine making in its many guises with me and a big thank you to you, the reader, for joining me on the learning journey.
Best wishes for 2018 from,
elizabethsvines
Reflections on 2017:
I make no pretense at originality but the words that immeidately come to mind are from Jancis Robinson MW, “Every glass of wine we drink represents a whole year of vineyard cultivation and perhaps several years of effort in the winery … Yet most of us throw it way, straight down our throats, without even trying to ‘read it’.”, she says. D’accord. As an aside, attending the Wine Label Circle annual gathering, this year in Shrewsbury I was fortunate to stumble across a copy of her 1997 Confessions of a Wine Lover, in the Attingham Hall second-hand book shop for a song. If you want to know where the wine business has come from this biography is an entertaining and informative place to start.
Thanks for the recommendation. I will look for the book in my travels. Sounds like an excellent reference.
Hi to both, Have a lovely 2018
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Many thanks and to you two also.