Category: france

Have I ever mentioned that one of my memorable tastings was at the Famille Hugel winery in Riquewihr in the Alsace region of France?  To the wonderful selection of wines, I also enjoyed dinner at a nearby restaurant, enjoying choucroute paired with an Alsatian Riesling.  The menu below from Provence Marinaside makes my mouth water.  Delicious wines and dishes.  Attend…

Do you know the meaning of the term “Meritage” for wines? It is a term developed by the California-based Meritage Alliance, that means a Bordeaux blend of grapes, without infringing on the term Bordeaux. Just like wineries around the world cannot say that their sparkling wine is Champagne. It is a term restricted to the region where that style of…

There is such a range of wines in France as you travel North to South and East to West, with so many different climates and soils.  The vintages can be different for major regions across France.  Luckily I was contacted by the Vignobles & Signatures Club whose members span France’s major appellations to tell me about the 2020 harvest, which…

In previous articles I reviewed two wines each for Sea Change and Thr3 Monkeys, which left me with two lighter bodied red wines by these two wineries from France and Spain respectively.   As I mentioned before, Sea Change’s labels show their concerns.  In this case they are showing the issues with plastics being dumped in the oceans, which can then…

I feel good about enjoying these two wines by Sea Change, which come from France.  Sea Change use renewable plant-based closures (corks) and the paper for the labels coming from certified sustainable forests and made partially from grape waste.   I am not sure where their corks are made but I do see a company called NOMACORC that does make plant-based…

Chardonnay and Riesling are noble variety grapes from France, most notably from Burgundy, and from Germany respectively.  There has always been a rivalry between people that like one or the other better.  Chardonnay comes in a variety of styles from oaked or unoaked and different array of fruit flavours from citrus to stone fruits to tropical fruits depends on how…

The Vancouver International Wine Festival 2020 had a GLOBAL CRU Seminar where top wineries from around the world discussed what is meant by “CRU”.  Help put this puzzle together.  There are lots of red wines to make the puzzle challenging.  You can also read about my GLOBAL CRU article here. Here is my source photo to help you along.  …

I had not heard of Chateau Argadens before but I see from their fact sheet they are part of the Sichel Family, which is of course very well-known in Bordeaux.  From their fact sheet, “The original name of this property, parts of which date back to the 12th and 16th centuries, was La Salle d’Argadens. It became Château Argadens in…

I was very busy at the Vancouver International Wine Festival 2020.  There were lots of terrific wines from France and around the world, plus the dinners, seminars, and Masterclasses were top notch.  I worked very hard making tasting notes, interviewing winery principals, and trying to learn more about wine so that I can educate you as well.  Below is a…

With France being the theme country for the Vancouver International Wine Festival 2020, there were many more French wineries in attendance than in other years.  And with that many more wines to taste. Which made me very happy.  France has a great variety of red, white, rosé, and sparkling wines, from the range of noble grape varieties.  I spent several…