Raising a Glass
Sometimes it’s about choosing the right resolution.
IN ANTICIPATION OF 2018, I went over my New Year’s resolutions for the previous year to see how successful I’d been. Turns out, my2017 resolutions weren’t so sticky: pack an earthquake kit (I bought the water), practise the guitar (learned one Crowded House song; quit), tap dance (mmmm, maybe oneclass?) and meditate (not so much as an “om”).
Clearly my motivation for each of these resolutions isn’t as high as it should be. (Except for the earthquake thing. I should unquestionably make it more than a casual resolution to nally get that damn kit together.) So this year I’m setting the bar—no pun intended—much lower, and my motivation muchhigher, by focusing on improving my wine knowledge. My (ugh) gluten in tolerance means beer is pretty much o the table these days, and acouple of weeks in France this past summer certainly amped up my interest in all things wine (rosé, rosé, rosé). And given that there is a wine expert in this office who sits amere few feet away from me, my excuses are nil.
And so my resolution begins with this issue. Our food editor( and aforementioned wine expert ), Neal McLennan, has gathered up over 60 bottle recommendations for our annual Wine Issue—including both the wine feature itself( page 24), and a pairing for every article in the magazine. For example: for a bottle to toast Rick Clu on his departure from the CBC (page12), here commends the sparkling Summer hill Cipes Brut. He talks with Ki er an Fanning from Farmer’ s Apprentice about the natural-wine fad (starting with the question, “What the hell is natural wine?”). He’s recruited the top wine experts in the city—Barb and Iain Philip, Lisa Haley, Jason Yamasaki—to share their favourites. And writer Kurtis Kolt gets behind thescenes at a weekly tasting with sommeliers from the top restaurants in town, learning how the best in the biz get even better (“Young Guns ,” page 24). Basically, my education starts here—and so does yours.
And now I’ll start my wine commitment by raising a cheers to all of you for a great 2018. May your resolutions prove to be both bettering and to have the same stick-to-itiveness that Ihope my own will show throughout the year to come.