partnered post
I must confess: When I got the invite to this year’s press conference for the 22nd Grand Wine Experience, it took me a minute (and I mean, a minute) to wrap my head around the theme.
One of my favorite Josephs, Ronnie Joseph of Philippine Wine Merchants, explained it by using an old Highlander film as reference (the Christopher Lambert 1986 one). I can’t retell it the way Ronnie did… but basically, we can live our entire lives (immortal or otherwise), drink a glass of wine, and be transported back to where we were during the bottle’s vintage.
For those who are encountering the word “vintage” for the first time, it’s the year when the grapes that went into the making of a bottle of wine were harvested. This is particularly significant for regions that have strict winemaking traditions, especially in the EU (France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Portugal…). In these parts of the world, there’s minimal intervention allowed for a winemaker to “tweak” their wines for consistency. An excellent example involves irrigation not being allowed in Bordeaux, which poses a challenge for dry years. Such is the importance of a good vintage that some parts of the world wouldn’t even produce wine on a year deemed not good enough. One can argue that it’s pretty ballsy of them to maintain these traditions, production be damned… but I find it makes each produced bottle special.
Going back to the theme, I realized that wine does give you a sense of time. I find that when I drink a 2009 Chilean wine (one of the best in recent years), I remember how I started in wine trade. I remember what was arguably one of the best years in grunge music and fashion (yes, I think of Doc Martens and Nirvana, plus the death of Kurt Cobain) when I see a 1994 bottle. I imagine what people were like in the 40s whenever I see a bottle from that era. Even significant birth years that coincide with stonking vintages are made more special: My 1982 birth year is one of the best years for right bank Bordeaux (which is why a 1982 Château Petrus is exorbitantly pricey), and my husband’s – 1979 – was a spellbinding year for Burgundy reds.
The thing is, as Ronnie also pointed out, wine is one of the few things you can consume years later. “After all, you can’t eat a five-year-old kare-kare.” This allows us to visit moments in history (personal or otherwise) one glass at a time.
For those who want to revisit or make new memories through a glass (or five… or more, no judgment*), the 22nd Grand Wine Experience: Time Travel is happening on 14 November 2025 in Manila Marriott Grand Ballroom and starts at 5:00pm. Over 1,000 labels (wine, spirits, sake, beer) from over 100 wineries from upwards of 15 countries will be featured, along with tons of delicious food from the great mind of Manila Marriott’s Executive Chef Meik Brammer (particularly excited for the 25 kilos of Malagos cheese from Davao).
Tickets are available at grandwineexperience.com. For funsies, here are tried and tested tips if this is your first GWE.
See you there!
*Please drink responsibly!
