Immediacy is an increasingly essential virtue to consumers of every stripe. When you're introduced to a band that you find appealing, you can have their entire discography downloaded onto your phone within a matter of minutes. If you find yourself in need of a new pair of shoes, you can arrange to have them placed upon your doorstep within 24 hours. Whether through happenstance or pandering, many wines accommodate these expectations of immediacy—and this isn't necessarily a bad thing.
On April 1st, 2025 the UCP (Alberta government) added an ad valorem tax to the existing flat tax on wine. You can read more about this tax here, but in essence 94.3% of wine in the province has gone up in price, and 64.7% has been affected by the highest tax tier of 15%. Combined with our weak Canadian dollar and record high shipping costs, this additional tax is having disastrous effects on Alberta’s wine & hospitality industry.
As Earth continues its aloof encircling of the sun, it's increasingly difficult for the human passengers to keep up with the pace of life. The faultlessly frail are rendered physically or mentally broken by the world, and even the robust and boisterous amongst us—including those who suspiciously exhibit no confusion in regard to the stark irrationality of existence—seem to have to fight to find their place. Perhaps none of us really have a place anymore.
It was a sunny June afternoon in 2011, and I was pulling into Weingut Wagner-Stempel’s resplendent courtyard for the first time. My future friend, Oliver Müller, was busy pouring wine samples to a number of guests who enjoyed their sips under the merciful shade of a 300-year-old chestnut tree. I introduced myself and I’ll never forget the bewildered expression on Oliver’s face when I told him that I had come from Canada in search of Riesling.
