Okay, some criteria first…to be considered, I decided, the wine must be:
- Compelling (or at least interesting)
- Affordable (under $30 per bottle), and
- Available (for purchase)
I announced the criteria to Matt and Ian last week, and we came up with 6 different wines pretty quickly…ranging from a red from Ventoux to a rosé from Abbruzzo. From there, we talked about the wines, tossed a few out, added a few more, slept on it, talked some more and finally decided that the French Paradox wine of the year is:
Wait…
Before you ask, let me offer this…a compelling wine, in my view (and it’s my contest, so I get to decide) must be surprising. Yes, it’s entirely possible that a wine from a very typical, very ordinary, very well known grape can be shockingly good, but (to me) compelling. I want to be surprised and delighted by the new or obscure or re-imagined wine. And yes, ‘affordable’, $30, is an arbitrary amount, but better a fixed arbitrary amount than any wine at any price. And finally, available…this is very important to me, as it makes me crazy to read about a wine that some columnist extols only to find out that the wine is made in such tiny amounts that none of us can find it! I mean, WTF! Why are you telling me about this wine if I can’t try it, Asimov!
So, without further ado or additional clarification, the French Paradox wine of the year 2021 is…
One last thing…we decided on 1 wine, rather than a list, well, just because. Okay, really, I thought we should remain consistent…every week, we talk about 1 wine as our ‘Favorite’. So, here it is, our Favorite for 2021: