Category: france

One of the highlights of the Vancouver International Wine Festival 2023 was the International Festival Tasting Room where 147 wineries from around the world were pouring their wines for you to try.  Plus, there was a winery principal for you to talk to about their wines.  This year the theme region for the Festival was South America, so we had…

I had a wonderful time speaking with Valérie Beyer about their Alsatian wines recently.  I interviewed Valérie two years ago together with her husband, Christian, about their wines.  I was curious to taste the 2020 vintage wines and compare them to their 2019 wines.  Valérie mentioned that 2020 was a hotter vintage than 2019. She mentioned that the 2020 vintage…

The Hauller family has been making wine since 1776 in Alsace.  They use their ancestral know-how to consider new issues and offer modern and innovative solutions, to respond to their client’s demands all over the world.  The two brothers, Ludovic and Guillaume, joined their parents in the winery in 2015.  One of the brothers’ objectives was to organically farm the…

François Schmitt took over the family winery in Alsace, Domaine François Schmitt, joined by his son, Frédéric, in 1998, and his wife, Myriam in 2010. I spoke with Frédéric and Myriam about their wines.  Frédéric views their wines as gastronomic, built for food.  Today I tasted all still wines, but they also make a significant amount of cremant wines.  One…

Domaine Barmès-Buecher was created in 1985 by Geneviève Barmès (née Buecher) and François Barmès, her husband, who combined the lands of their respective families, who owned vines since the 17th century, in Wettolsheim.  I was fortunate to interview Sophie Barmes, their daughter, about the winery and its wines, through the Millésimes Alsace online tasting event held this week. The winery…

March 8 is officially International Women’s Day.  The Côtes du Rhône and Côtes du Rhône Villages AOCs in the south of France put out this press release to show what women are doing in all aspects of grape growing, wine production, and sales in their AOCs.  We too in BC have women working in our wine industry.  It is great…

Many of us have probably had a snifter of Hennessy, Martell, or Remy Martin cognacs, but what about having a snifter of Armagnac de Montal or Chateau de Laubade?  There are similarities and differences between these two distilled spirits.  Let me tell you about them. About Cognac and Armagnac Cognac and Armagnac are both French brandies, but they come from…

There are four major Cognac houses: Hennessy, Rémy Martin, Martell and Courvoisier. You probably have tried a cognac from at least one of these producers.  My personal favourite is Martell.  But what is Cognac? Can you enjoy Cognac in a cocktail, maybe for Valentine’s Day before your meal? What is Cognac? Cognac is a type of brandy that is named…

This week we had our first Trade tasting of new wines or new vintages of wines, plus spirits with the IVSA.  I decided to concentrate on white and sparkling wines for this event, as I had a shorter time to taste that day.  Below are some of the wines that I enjoyed and hope you will find them soon, if…

A whole year has passed since my 2021 Wine Quiz, which was related to wines, wineries, and winemakers I was able to interact with and write about on mywinepal.com.  Here is my 3rd Annual 2022 Wine Quiz.  There are 10 questions gleaned from my articles this year. I hope you enjoy it!