An Exceptional Vintage

A glance back at 2023

At the beginning of December when I was in Napa, several people mentioned that they expected 2023 to be an exceptional vintage - and the grapes were barely off the vines at that point. Just a few weeks later, those grapes have become wine. They’re not yet the wines that we will someday drink, which in most cases won’t be released for at least a year or two, but the winemakers are beginning to taste what these wines are going to be, and they are predicting spectacular results, perhaps the vintage of a lifetime, according to the winemakers interviewed on Karen MacNeil’s Instagram.

But the conditions that create an exceptional vintage wouldn’t necessarily be recognized as good weather. A rare snow storm in February and plentiful rain in the spring followed by a long, dry growing season with lower than average temperatures didn’t make things easy or predictable. The usual patterns were altered, harvest delayed. A spectacular wine vintage doesn’t happen because conditions are “perfect” by any standard other than what helps the grapes, and grapes are funny. They need ample water early in the season, but once the berries appear, what really makes them ripen well and develop sugars and flavors is water stress. A certain amount of drought also makes for strong vines with deep roots that can survive harsh conditions. Years with pleasant and predictable weather grow average grapes that create unremarkable wines. The best vintages come from unexpected and even stressful circumstances.

Photo by Moritz Knöringer on Unsplash

The grape vine has served as an emblem, an inspiration, and a point of reflection this year as I’ve had my own rather challenging and unpredictable year. The patterns and seasons that have governed my life for the last twenty years all shifted this year, often in ways I hadn’t foreseen or chosen. I’ll save the details for the memoir, but here I will simply say that I experienced plentiful metaphorical rain, periods of drought and cold, and even a rare and unwanted snow storm or two. This year wasn’t always fun or pleasant, and it interfered with my plans at every step.

But new plans were made. The weather shifted, and although it might not have always been recognizable as “good” weather, it was growing something very good in me. My roots stretched deep and found resources I didn’t know were there. I developed more trust in my instincts and my ability to thrive. Most of all, I found a vast capacity for joy growing within me - not just the kind of joy you happen to feel because of circumstances, but the kind that comes because you prioritize it, because you choose it without guilt or shame, because you take the option that will give you joy over the one that will fulfill obligation or maintain the status quo.

Much like the wines of Napa, it’ll probably take another year or two to entirely understand what this year produced in my life. Or, who knows? In truly spectacular wines, all the nuances may take many years of maturation to be fully revealed. Life is always impossible to predict, but mine feels even more uncertain than usual right now; I have absolutely no idea where I will be or what I will be doing in a year. What I do know in these early days is that the challenges are exactly what made space for one of the most transformative years of my life. I don’t know what 2024 will bring, but I can confidently declare 2023 an exceptional vintage.

Happy New Year to you all! Thank you to all of you who have read, shared, supported, and paid for this blog. Each of you has contributed to my spectacular 2023 vintage, and I look forward to creating another great one with you in 2024. Cheers!