10 July 2024 A guide to this year's wine writing competition on unforgettable wine moments.
The judges and I are all very excited about the entries that have been selected for publication in the coming weeks. We have been astounded by how varied, innovative, clever and powerful so many of these 214 submissions have been and are so grateful to all the entrants for sharing their stories this year.
There is no single criterion that determines what makes a particular wine moment unforgettable. It can be lighthearted or gritty, happy or sad, exciting or disappointing, a combination of those feelings or something else entirely. What makes the moment unforgettable is not determined by the putative quality or price of the wine itself as much as it is shaped by our personal experience of the given moment. A cherished moment of sharing a bottle of generic Merlot with family can be just as memorable as tasting a famous wine or visiting a legendary winery.
Several entrants explore the moment that made them a wine lover, while others describe the instant that led them to pursue a career in the wine industry. Some recount jarring incidents that led the author to reevaluate their relationship with the wine industry, or with wine itself. These essays document the range of significant moments that wine enthusiasts and those working in the wine industry can have. They show that for some of us, our most unforgettable experiences are wine moments, for many of the episodes that will be published were truly life-changing ones. At its heart, this competition is about the profound meanings that wine can have for people and the varied ways in which it can indelibly impact our lives.
Entries will be published daily, unedited, free for all readers and in no particular order in the coming weeks. We will publish a shortlist of the top entries on 3 September, then readers can vote for their favourite entry from the list until 16 September. Entries will be added to the list below as they are published, with the most recently published ones listed at the top.
Published 2024 competition entries
Bottle service, by Karen Magner 31 August 2024
It was a corker, by Cynthia Chaplin 30 August 2024
Gewürztraminer, golden light, by Steven Norton 29 August 2024
The problem with French wine, by Richard Hough 28 August 2024
A Finger Lakes winemaker is born, by Christopher Costales 27 August 2024
The golden nectar, by Jasmine Heinen 26 August 2024
Lesson in Italian, by Kara Daly 25 August 2024
Cheval Blanc and Dr Pepper, by Nina Lloyd 24 August 2024
Recollections brought on by reflections of resilience, by Simon Morris 23 August 2024
A sip of eternity in Montalcino, by Laura R Gray 22 August 2024
The Paris wine bar that changed my life, by Dena Roché 21 August 2024
A chance inheritance, by Tom Fox 20 August 2024
A Sicilian (re)birth, by Allyson Walther 19 August 2024
Qué Syrah, Syrah, by Keely Cho 18 August 2024
The wine moment I’ll never forget, by Emma Bentley 17 August 2024
Wine through the lens of motherhood, by Emily Johnston Collins 16 August 2024
Ah, the bordeaux! by Stephen Spencer 15 August 2024
From trepidation to transformation, by Beverley Bourdin 14 August 2024
A big birthday deserved a big bottle, by Susan Richards 13 August 2024
Teenage lobotomy, by Niall Rush 12 August 2024
Impromptu perfection, by Stéphane Michel 11 August 2024
The chalk cellar, by Noah May 10 August 2024
Wines that bind, by Carol Kaufmann 9 August 2024
A lockdown Grüner in Bordeaux, by Charlotte Adams Alsaadi 8 August 2024
The kindness of a stranger, by Ameena Elmore 7 August 2024
Tuesday wine and chicken, by Michelle Ryan 6 August 2024
Going, Goring, gone, by Richard Mylles 5 August 2024
Broken booze cruise, by Renée Mallon 4 August 2024
Electric beginnings, by Ali Thomas 3 August 2024
B-sides and unforgettable evenings, by Taylor Greene 2 August 2024
Monsieur does not know wine? by Cary Donaldson 1 August 2024
I also laughed, by Amy Matthews 31 July 2024
A toast in the fog, by Philip K Liao 30 July 2024
A most memorable wine flight, by Monique Bell 29 July 2024
That dog on the wine bottle label, by Valentina Ananeva 28 July 2024
Sparkling Shiraz, by Tom King 27 July 2024
Can you help me? by Erica Landis 26 July 2024
Malbec, young, by Carrie Dann 25 July 2024
Sunday supper somm surprise, by Ryan Rougeux 24 July 2024
Why Spain? by Deborah Hansen 23 July 2024
A pet nat epiphany, by Eleanor Pattison 22 July 2024
Of mice and grapes, by Emily Grazier 21 July 2024
A Lebanese road less travelled, by Lettie Fardon 20 July 2024
Sharing the moment of creation, by Allison Burton-Parker 19 July 2024
The young-ish man and the sea, by Todd Behrend 18 July 2024
Scenes from the third act, by Maria Banson 17 July 2024
Dabbling with Dagueneau, by Rachel Fellows 16 July 2024
A horizontal tasting, by Paul Shanley 15 July 2024
Don't cancel your passion, by Vasylysa Yılmaz 14 July 2024
Glass houses, by Zach Bingham 13 July 2024
The day everything changed, by Elise Penney 12 July 2024
The road to Damascus, by Luke Haughton 11 July 2024
'I don't want to be a statue', by Emilie Aspeling 10 July 2024
Fermé, by Zoe Fisher 9 July 2024
An inconvenient memory, by Jason Millar 8 July 2024
A matter of time, by Allyson Noman 7 July 2024
A moment of waiting, by Kate Burns 6 July 2024
Ice Ice Baby, by Christy Frank 5 July 2024
L'appel du Vide, by Richard Lane 4 July 2024
Chianti spritzer on the beach, circa 1964, by Melanie Webber 3 July 2024
Other articles about the 2024 competition
And the winners of our 2024 wine writing competition are … 19 September 2024
Our 2024 wine writing competition – the shortlist 3 September 2024
Our 2024 wine writing competition – update 25 June 2024
Our 2024 wine writing competition theme announced 18 April 2024
Image by Constantine Johnny via Getty Images.
