2022 – A New Year Ahead

I am optimistic cautiously so about this New Year ahead. Last year this time I was full of hope and perhaps the expectation was overly optimistic. But I hope for this era of the Pandemic to end or at least a back to terms of not living in worry.

I hope that I can travel more and to explore the world once again. I do think based on my experience here in San Francisco the town is no longer what it once was and I do think 2019 was a peak year. Walking through the city over the holiday was a city where many vacant store fronts. I saw a few restaurants welcoming patrons back and yet there were few patrons. Vico Cavone a Neapolitan restaurant opened two weeks ago and subsequently closed down only open for a couple of week and based on their social media that they would reopen. I am concerned about a lack of vibrancy and energy that the city will never be quite the same. Many would argue change was due but I do think I would rather see a positive change and some energy and life to the city.

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I do think that public and trade wine tastings will be done in Q1 potentially Q2 of this year. But I do hope it is time to have a wider net to cast from for people to enjoy tasting a wide array of wines.

On my year must taste experience is to taste a mix of domestic and import wines. High on my list is Australia–an illusive wine country for the US. Once there were many wines from Australia widely available and today, at least, in wine markets I shop there is a very small selection. My neighbourhood grocer which has a very nice selection of domestic and imports had zero Australian wine SKUs. Australia wine producers have not been focused on exporting to the US. A generation ago there were regular Australian trade/consumer tastings.

But I do also want to continue my focus on US, French and Italian producers. I do want to taste more Spanish wines which last year (’21) was a rare experience. I never imagined that tasting wines from Rioja would be an infrequent experience or elsewhere in Spain. While neighbouring Portugal I taste from regularly Year-over-Year. I do hope to be tasting more wines from Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Hercegovina, Montenegro, Turkey and Greece.

I do publish each year my #winetasingwishlist

• Carneros AVA
  British Columbia – Okanagan Valley
• Ontario
• Santa Maria Valley AVA
• Santa Barbara County AVA
• Sierra Foot Hills AVA
• El Dorado AVA
• Grand Valley AVA
• Virginia Wine Countries
• Maryland
• Washington State
• Oregon State
• Australia – all regions
• New Zealand – all regions
• Peru
• UK
• Germany
• Austria
• Czech Republic
• Slovenia
• Croatia
• Bosnia & Hercegovina
• Montenegro
• Turkey
• Greece
• Romania
• Bulgaria
• Bekaa Valley, Lebanon
• Israel
• Cyprus
• Poland
• Switzerland
• Luxembourg
• France – regions that I rarely taste from Côtes du Jura, Gascogne, Loire Valley,
• And more wine countries

I do hope to taste more wines than I did in 2021 and I hope that there are more wine events as these are important for me to experience. Wine events are important not just for me (but I do get an even greater tasting experience) but it is important to the specific wine regions to get a greater exposure.

I wish you a wonderful tasting year ahead–what is on your #winetasingwishlist ?

Santé,

James

#winetasingwishlist

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