The wines included on this list of the top 10 best wines tasted in 2012, combine quality with the unique memory of the tasting. It’s easy to pick the best wines. But the bottles that offer a memory of a moment that remains etched in your mind, are the truly special wines.

The criteria I focused on for my wines of the year varied. I wanted to focus the list on the wines that left the biggest impression, not only for the wine, but as a memory of the event.

Great wine should never be tasted alone. They deserve to be shared, sloshed, sniffed, swirled, swallowed and discussed with others. Every wine on this list remains vividly etched in my memory.

I have no idea how many wines I tasted in 2010. If I had to guess, it could be close to 2000. Making a top ten list of the best wines from 2010 was not easy. But it was fun looking over my notes and remembering each experience.