As I welcome 2022 with open arms, I also find myself reflecting deeply on 2021 and the wine adventures it held. I certainly didn't drink as much wine as I did in 2020, but where I lacked in wine consumption I made up for in travel and adventures - and honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way.
I am so thankful that 2021 was adventure filled, even if it did mean less wine bottles to post and share on Instagram. I intentionally chose wine that added value, memories, and moments to my life. Instead of drinking nightly or even weekly in an effort to keep up with the 100's of "bottle blogs" on Instagram, I chose to consume wine in 2021 as if it were the "glue" keeping this adventure we call life together. Cheap glue and you'll need lot, quality glue and you'll need only a small amount to suspend the memory or wine moment in time. After all, we like to joke that "wine is the glue holding this shit show together," and as humorous as that is, there is in fact some truth to the saying - I just choose to be selective in the "glue" and therefore in which wine memories I consume.
Sure, there is technically enough wine in the world to recommend a quality wine each and every day on my blog and Instagram account, but who would want to take wine recommendations from someone drinking so frequently and haphazardly that they never stop to show you the moments, the memories, the true art that is wine? I want wine that wows, not wine that whispers nightly from the kitchen counter. I want wine memories, not rabid wine consumption. So, in 2022 the wines you'll see recommended by me, as in the past, will only be the ones I'm also choosing to enjoy. The wines I, too, commit to wine memory, and let be the glue in this adventure of life. After all, quality over quantity my wine friends.
So, in reflecting on the wine and wine adventures of 2021 I'm less retrospective of the bottles I drank, and more retrospective of the bottle adventure I had. I don't know that I can pick a number one wine moment of 2021, but my trip to the Willamette Valley with Afton of Wine Lady Out West certainly stands tall. Domain Drouhin, Hazelfern, Domain Divio - all outstanding winery experiences where in many regards the wines consumed only added to the overall experience. These, my friends, are the moments I'll continue to look for and will continue to share with you in 2022.
Cheers,
The Rocky Mountain Oenophile
