There is one question I am asked as a wine importer more often than any other - I am asked to pick my absolute favourite wine. It’s a question I have always struggled to answer. Maybe it’s because it sort of feels like asking a parent which of their kids they like best, or asking a doctor which of their patients they try hardest to treat. Since I represent literally hundreds of wines from around the world, there is no politically correct answer to this question, but I have recently realized that the real reason I struggle with this question so much is because I don’t have an intellectually honest answer, either.

For me, wine and food are intrinsically connected. A great meal is made better with a glass of great wine, and vice versa. There is something almost mystical about how food and wine work together. More than any other beverage, wine has a special ability to become an extension of a meal - a real addition to the table rather than a refreshing swig to wash down the last bite. The land and climate and people in a particular region combine to produce food and wine that express a sensory authenticity of place in both food and wine. It is this distinctive and authentic expression of place that make the relationship between food and wine so special.

And so it becomes clear that my "favourite” wine at any particular moment would be influenced by the food I am eating with it. The Bruniers’ delicious Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc is magical with roasted asparagus risotto. Almonds and olives and anchovies must be tasted next to a Lustau Palo Cortado Sherry to be fully appreciated. Lamb chops off the BBQ scream for a glass of Marques de Murrieta Rioja. The list goes on, but the point is clear – food is a central factor in picking my "favourite” wine at any given moment.

Like food, my surroundings obviously impact what I feel like drinking. Is it a hot summer afternoon or a snowy winter night? Am I enjoying brunch on the patio with friends, or sitting down for a quiet more formal dinner? Am I planning to enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, or a bottle (or two) with a gang of friends over what promises to be a long evening. All of these factors play into selecting my "favourite” wine.

But there is something more to this equation... wine and food always taste best when consumed together in the place they’re from. There is, in my opinion, an absolute connection between how good a wine tastes and the geographic location I am situated in while consuming it. I can’t explain the mechanics of this relationship, but I can state unequivocally that Chianti tastes better on the terrace at San Felice overlooking the hills of Tuscany, Clos Mogador Priorat Tinto has never tasted better than it did in the barrel cellar amidst the surrounding mountainous terrain, and I have perhaps never enjoyed a glass of Bordeaux more than I did over a casual evening BBQ at Jean Noel Belloc’s Chateau Brondelle in the Graves.

Pinpointing a single "favourite” wine is impossible for me. However, the process of understanding wine has provided me with a long list of favourite (albeit far too fleeting) wine moments. And it is perhaps in this lifelong journey to find a "favourite” wine that I have discovered why wine is such a special beverage. Unlike other refreshments, the discovery of wine is as much about the journey as it is about the destination.