Recently, while pouring wine for clients during a tasting, I witnessed a powerful moment. 

I had chosen an orange wine as part of the flight – a Tuscan blend of Trebbiano and Malvasia. It had come recommended by a friend and upon tasting it, presented much differently than I had imagined. 

The clients I had decided to pour it for could not have been a more perfect choice: an Italian couple. They had loved the two wines I'd poured for them to begin with, examples I had used as lubrication in anticipation for the more serious juice to come.

I knew or had assumed, they hadn't tasted an orange wine before and I couldn't have been more wrong. 

Upon the first sip, they were stopped in their tracks. They began telling me stories of their childhoods – tales of communal basket presses shared among neighbours, used to press grapes that would go on to become table wine – bottles imbibed with friends and family over meals and late-night conversations of philosophy and romance. 

They looked at me in disbelief and said, "we didn't realize other wines could taste like this – this is what our childhood tasted like."

I took to Instagram to ask my fellow oenophiles if there were any wines that evoked a similar response and the replies were familiar to what the Italian couple had shared, one in particular, also referencing a childhood memory:

"I always have a visceral response to this bad boy (an Alsatian Riesling). Every childhood experience, wrapped up in a para rubber paddling pool dream sequence, finishing with a cheeky little arse grab."

If we take a moment to stop and think about how magical wine can really be, especially the ones made with thoughtfulness and love – it's no surprise it can elicit special feelings or memories. 

What's a wine you've tasted recently that's made you feel a certain kind of way?