Wine can do a lot of things. It can entice, it can seduce. It can reward contemplation and facilitate conviviality and romance. It can make joyous occasions even more festive, and it can offer comfort amid sadness.

Above all else, wine must always refresh.

Quenching thirst is the single most important function of a wine. If it fails at that, little else matters.

Most fine wines are intended to do much more. But the primary ambition for some wines is just to quench thirst, and sometimes that’s exactly what you want.