Category: france

What is a Portfolio Tasting? If you have never been before, it is a wine tasting held by a wine agent of all, or many of, the wines that they represent.  It is a great place to taste many different wines, typically from different countries, and learn a bit about the style of wines that they carry.  Are they focused…

I recently was invited to try some exceptional Burgundies from Maison Louis Latour. In front of me as I sat down was 3 verticals: – Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru – Meursault 1er Cru “Chateau de Blagny” – Chateau Corton Grancey Grand Cru Maison Louis Latour is one of Burgundy’s oldest merchants. They are well known for both their red and…

In Part 1 of my Tasting at M. Chapoutier, I introduced you to the winery and my view standing on the Hermitage hill overlooking other surround appellations. It was an excellent tour of the Hermitage vineyard, followed by an extensive tasting of their wines.  In Part 1, I gave you my tasting notes about Chapoutier’s Tradition level of wines.  And…

One of my overall favourite wineries in the world is M. Chapoutier.  Like Domaine Huet, that I wrote about earlier, M. Chapoutier, is also a biodynamic winery.  I arrived at the winery around 10:30am.  Already hot and sunny in the Rhone Valley.  I was met by Mr. Samuel “Sam” Boissy.  To better understand the wines I would soon be tasting,…

Before I packed my suitcase and headed for France, I was looking forward immensely to visiting the Loire Valley and trying the wines of the Vouvray appellation, which is known for their many styles of Chenin Blanc.  After searching on the internet and other wine resources, I decided to pay a visit to Domaine Huet L’Echansonne. It was a beautiful…

This Part 2 of my review of my picks from the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival.  Part 1 covered the wines of Spain.  Part 2 is the rest of the world. Again, there are so many wines at the tasting, and so little time, I’m sure I missed many great wines.  If you tasted some that I didn’t list, please…

This week I attended the IVSA‘s latest tastings of new wine and spirits in the Vancouver area. There was at least 70 different tables from my quick count, with each table offering 5-10 different wines. As such, I was not able to try everything offered, but hopefully I was able to find a few gems, which I can pass along…

Burgundy produces arguably the the most characterful wines in the world. For those who don’t know, Burgundy is famous primarily for Pinot Noir and for Chardonnay, but also is known for Gamay (which makes Nouveau Boujoulais). The region is divided into five major areas: Côte d’Or (divided into Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits), Chablis, Côte Chalonnaise, the Maconnais…

Alsace, located in eastern France, has a long history of wine making. The Rhine River flows through the Alsace region and the wine trade from the 12th to the 16th century was almost monopolized by Strasbourg and Cologne as the Mediterranean region was controlled by the Arabian people who shut off the wine trade by controlling access to the Straits…