All specialized languages evolve, their vocabularies enjoying cycles of emergence, standardization, modernization, and reinvention. Such a cycle has radically transformed wine discourse over the last fifty years. Examining this evolution reveals our ever-shifting attitudes toward the meaning and value of this singular beverage.

In this talk, Meg uses Pinot Noir as a lens through which to view specific shifts in our lexical and linguistic approaches to wine commentary, and to explore what these mean for wine’s evolving cultural significance.
Meg originally presented this talk in July 2025 at the inaugural Pinot Noir and Identity Symposium at St. Cross College, Oxford. Her full paper is forthcoming in World of Fine Wine in March 2026.

Meg Maker, chair of the Circle of Wine Writers, is an award-winning wine and culture writer, fine artist, and educator. She explores wine and food as expressions of social and cultural identity, and how these manifest history, tradition, and fashion. Her current research focuses on wine languages and how our linguistic choices reinforce or explode notions of individual identity and wine’s place in culture. She contributes freelance writing to various outlets and publishes her own features, criticism, and commentary on Maker’s Table.

To join this Zoom seminar, please register now or at any time before 6pm GMT on February 10th.

The session, including Questions and Answers, will last for approximately one hour.

To register, follow the link below. Guests will be very welcome, but please let Andrea know their names.

Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/hjSa5C01SrOV-CTx2f4xzA

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. We look forward to seeing you then.

If you can’t attend the live session, there will be a recording available to watch afterwards on the Circle’s YouTube channel (links to this and earlier sessions are in the members’ area of the website).

Helen Savage, CWW online events organiser