what makes wine worth drinking?
Wine has never been more popular, but too often we treat the wine in our glass as an anonymous liquid, disconnected from the people who made it and the place where it came from. We think “I like this” or “I don’t like this” without ever really pondering what makes a wine good and what makes a wine worth drinking.
To me, wine is worth drinking when it tastes like the place it came from, when it reflects the traditions and flavors of the unique culture where it was produced. To me, a wine is worth drinking when it was made with care and skill in an attempt to reflect the character of the land in liquid form. To me, a wine is worth drinking when it was lovingly made by one who cares for the land and treats it with the respect and reverence it deserves.
All of these things and more make a wine worth drinking, but it is frustratingly rare to find wines like this. Too often, wine is made not to reflect the terroir of the surrounding countryside but to meet a market demand or expectation. Too often, wine is treated as a mass-produced industrial commodity rather than the product of artisan care. Too often, wine is treated as a means to make money rather than a fragile and sacred responsibility.
When we seek out wines produced with love and skill on small family farms, we enrich the world, both for those who produced the wine and for those of us who consume it. We deepen our relationship with wine by seeking out those wines which have the most to say.