2020: The Year in Review
BY ANTONIO GALLONI |
My Year in Review article is usually a greatest hits of the past twelve months, a write up of fabulous meals, wines and tastings. Obviously, there was not much of that this year. I almost did not write this article at all, but 2020 has its own vibe and story. Ultimately, I thought that should be documented…
State of the Union
We were fortunate to have a fulfilling year at Vinous despite numerous challenges created by COVID-19. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to do what we do. Early on in the pandemic we decided to do everything possible to maintain our typical publishing schedule. That required an extraordinary effort by our critics, who worked around the clock. Homes became warehouses as we received a seemingly endless barrage of samples from all over the world. Just dealing with the opening of boxes and preparing the trash/recycling was (and continues to be) a monumental effort. We were able to publish all major reports on schedule, including some that were earlier than ever, including Neal’s report on the 2019 Burgundies and Eric’s article on the 2016 Brunellos. Other reports were more comprehensive than ever, including Josh’s in-depth look at Oregon.
Our Vinous Learn Napa Valley module consisted of 8 classes, 24 hand-chosen wines, a full set of Vinous maps and a Coravin.
In 2020, we added to our editorial team by bringing on Eric Guido for Italy and Rebecca Gibb MW to cover New Zealand and the Loire. While our critics are the public face of Vinous, there are many people at Vinous whose names you probably don’t know. They are our backbone, they make everything we do possible. Our leadership team, run by Marzia, James and Alex, did a brilliant job under very challenging conditions, juggling the intense professional and personal demands of 2020 with great skill. The same is true of our office team led by Shea, Gabriella and Brenna, the best we have had yet.
Two thousand twenty was a year of reinvention. I suspect much of that will continue in 2021 and perhaps beyond. We launched Vinous Learn, a series of virtual tastings, including an entire module featuring our maps of Napa Valley. We also introduced Vinous Live, a program of seminars and conversations with the world’s leading personalities. As the restaurant and hospitality industry suffered, we offer complimentary subscriptions to all unemployed wine directors and sommeliers around the world. Given that education is our mission, we did the same thing with students in the MS and MW programs who have moved beyond the first level of their respective programs. Lastly, we redoubled our efforts to encourage diversity. As a person with mixed Latino, Italian and American heritage, and an Immigrant to the United States, diversity has always been important to me. In 2020, we launched our BIPOC Mentorship Program to further that goal.
Vinous Live is a series of virtual tastings, seminars and conversations with the leading figures in wine.
A Look Back at 2020
My year began pretty much like every year, with a trip to Sonoma. It was a great start. The 2018s in Sonoma were so impressive. Looking back, the best 2018s in California (of the regions I cover) were made in Sonoma. Napa is a close second, while Santa Barbara is less consistent. The tastings were thrilling. On my last day in California, I decided to stop by the Napa Valley Reserve to fine tune the blend of my 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine that will be offered only in charitable auctions. That hour or so would turn out to be all the time I spent in Napa Valley the entire year. I snuck in a quick trip to see friends in Los Angeles. That was my last trip to the west coast for 2020. From there, I went to Naples. Florida, where I hosted a Lafite and L'Évangile tasting with Saskia de Rothschild at the Naples Winter Wine Festival featuring a number of reference-point wines from both properties.
Putting together the final touches on my 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon at the Napa Valley Reserve. A dollop of one component suggested by Bob Levy made all the difference.
By the time Festa del Barolo came around in late January, the news was already spreading about a new virus that had been identified in China. In March, we were lucky to get the annual DRC tasting in. I had a few dinners with friends, and then everything changed.
As I write this in late December, I have yet to get on a plane or take a trip anywhere outside the New York area. I tasted every wine this year in my home or somewhere nearby. The sheer volume of samples has been at times overwhelming, but at the same time, tasting at home has been so illuminating. It’s not something I want to do every year, and of course I very much miss visiting estates and tasting in person with winemakers. But tasting at home provides an opportunity no trip can, and that is the ability to follow wines over several hours and/or days, which is fascinating. I am sure I spent more time with virtually all wines in 2020 than I would have been able to in an ‘ordinary’ year. And that is the positive aspect of 2020.
I am not eager to repeat the experience, and I would very much like to have my house back as a residence at some point, but there were some very good things to come out of this year. At times I wondered how wines would show in New York. Would those Chianti Classicos still be so impressive removed from the stunning hillside vistas of the estates I visit every year? What about Bordeaux? Can barrel samples be shipped across the ocean and still show well? Would Napa Valley wines still be so profound tasted away from the vineyards? The answer to all of these questions is a resounding: Yes! In fact, tasting the wines in a neutral setting is actually provides a great deal of insights, as the best wines really stand out. Moreover, the ability to taste open bottles after a few hours, or even a day later, is so fascinating. I notice that many wines got their most positive notes from me ever in 2020. So, there goes the theory that wines show best when tasted at the properties…
My Year in Review article is usually a greatest hits of the past twelve months, a write up of fabulous meals, wines and tastings. Obviously, there was not much of that this year. I almost did not write this article at all, but 2020 has its own vibe and story. Ultimately, I thought that should be documented…
