I’ve been doing this writing/journalism thing for a while now, so when the opportunity arose to write about wine + data for Wine Enthusiast, my “Yes!” was immediate and enthusiastic.

But I gotta be honest.

Writing the piece was a heck of a lot harder than I expected.

First, it was long-form journalism which, quite frankly, I was out of the practice of writing. I’d never written for Wine Enthusiast or their Beverage Industry Enthusiast platform before, so that was new too.

Second, the editorial process was much more rigorous than I’m used to. Which is a good — great — thing that no doubt improved the quality of the piece significantly. In the thick of it though? My goodness.

And third, the challenge of the topic (climate change) is multi-faceted, which meant corralling a wide swath of sources for their input.

Was it all worth it?

We’d say yes, a thousand percent.

You can see the result for yourself online. The piece, called “Winemakers are Using Cutting-Edge Data and Old World Wisdom to Combat Climate Change,” went live just before the New Year, and I can’t imagine a much cooler way to kick of 2020.

Here are three reasons why:

1. Climate change matters. A lot. And now, more than ever. If we can shine a spotlight on the possibilities and potential of data to help, sign us up.

2. There are a lot of very smart and dedicated people working, directly and indirectly, on projects that can move the conversation forward. Fortunately at Enolytics we count a number of those people as colleagues and partners, and it was important to us to add their unique and informed voices to the conversation.

3. An unexpected takeaway of this process shows itself in the title of the article: yes, much of the data-gathering and analysis is cutting edge but the “old world wisdom” is equally valuable. “Combining common sense with actual data paints a picture that we simply cannot ignore,” commented Susan Kostrzewa, Editor-in-Chief of Wine Enthusiast Media.

That’s something we feel deeply. Data is valuable. Common sense is imperative.

Especially when it comes to a topic like climate change, which is a crucial matter not only for the wine industry, Kostrzewa said, but for the world at large.

“We know that as a voice of both consumers and trade in the wine space, it’s essential that we address the current state of this unprecedented crisis as well as report on the good work so many producers are doing to try to combat its effects, and help the people most impacted by them.”

We’re raising a wine + data toast to that.

Please be in touch with any comments or questions, and thank you as always for reading.

Cathy