Since my family, friends, and acquaintances know I’m into wine, a question I often get asked is, “What’s your favourite wine?” Sometimes I respond playfully by asking: red or white? What time of year are we talking about? Am I drinking wine on its own, or is it accompanied by food – and what kind of food? To me, these are all legitimate questions, as my preference changes depending on the season and the pairing. According to my CellarTracker end-of-year list, I drink Pinot Noir more than any other variety and prefer Txakoli in the summer. Still, that doesn’t really answer the question of what my favourite wine is.
I know immediately what my favourite wine is, but it takes a bit of a story to explain why. My wife and I were splurging to celebrate our 20th anniversary at 529 Wellington. We arrived earlier than most diners and were presented with the wine list. If you’ve ever dined there, you know it’s daunting. Before long
, the sommelier came to our table to ask if we needed any assistance. I think he could sense my hesitation and asked what kind of wine we liked. We told him we’d been drinking a lot of Shiraz, as Australian Shirazes were flooding the market in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He paused, then suggested a wine that was right at our price point. Years later, after taking a number of wine courses, I came to appreciate just how skilled he was – recommending a great wine and intuitively recognizing our budget without asking. (As an aside, restaurants often have the highest markup on the second cheapest wine, as no one wants to order the cheapest.) The wine he recommended was Paul Jaboulet Aine Crozes-Hermitage, a Northern Rhône Syrah. We absolutely loved it – it paired beautifully with steak. In fact, we loved it so much that I went out the next week and bought a couple of bottles. Since then, through 26 more anniversaries (yes, we’ve now been married 46 years), there has always been a bottle of Paul Jaboulet Aine Crozes-Hermitage in our home.
You see, having a favourite wine is really about the experience. It’s not about rarity, reputation, or cost – it’s about what stays with you. I’ve had many wines that are more expensive or more famous that I’ve loved, but my favourite has never changed. One year, I even bought every bottle of the 2015 vintage from the St. Vital and Whyte Ridge Liquor Mart, as it was an exceptional year in Northern Rhône. Our connection to Paul Jaboulet Aine led us to visit their tasting room in the small village of Tain-l’Hermitage on the banks of the Rhône. We walked among the vines and climbed the famed Hermitage hill to La Chapelle – an experience we’ll never forget. I’m especially glad my wife insisted we go, even though it was out of the way.
To this day, whenever I open a bottle of Paul Jaboulet Aine Crozes-Hermitage for dinner, I hear an “Ooohhh” from my wife. That reaction says everything – not just about the wine itself, but about the memories tied to it. For us, it’s an experience we get to relive again and again.
By: Stu Charles
WSET Wines & Spirits Level 3, Spanish Wine Scholar, French Wine Scholar, WSET Sake Level 1, Ontario VQA Wine Appellations Level 1, BC Wines of BC Ambassador Level 1, Certified Expert in California Wine Level 2