Best of 2024
Year in review
I love this time of year when critics release their best-of lists, with movies, TV shows, music and books among them. But what I get most excited about is hearing about which wines are atop the best of lists from friends and family. Which wines did they consume or taste over the past year that really excited them, enough to make them stop and savour rather than just drink. Maybe even enough to research something about the wine, the producer, the region or the vintage. These are my favourite lists.
This is the best time of year - when you might be traveling from one festive gathering to another - to gather such intel about others’ drinking pleasures. And if you’re meeting people for the first time at these gatherings, what a great way to get to know someone quickly. Such inquiries make for wonderful icebreakers and can quickly deepen a burgeoning connection.
Or maybe you’ll be lucky enough to be at a gathering where someone has brought a wine they have been holding on to for some special occasion. Every wine lover has a few bottles stashed away for some “special occasion” that may or may not ever come. And maybe they have brought it to a gathering you are attending and are excited to share it with everyone there. Or perhaps it is you who has pulled something special from your cellar and are wanting to share it during the festive season.
So I call upon you dear reader, which wine or wines have knocked your socks off this past year? What magical moments involved a special bottle? Or what special bottle turned an average week night into a favourite memory of the year?
Please gift me with your answers to these questions via email and I will use them as fodder for upcoming articles.
Wishing all a safe and happy holiday and remember, no matter what you choose to open, or whatever is poured for you, it is really the company and the shared spirit between the people you are celebrating with that can elevate the wine to greatness. As someone once said to me when I asked about their best wine of the year: “the best wine is whatever is in my glass!”
Some of my personal favourites from 2024
2000 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut
2022 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling Clare Valley Australia