Category: riesling

I and other Trade people were invited to “explore the Pacific Wine Route with us. In the spirit of expedition and discovery, take a page from Lewis and Clark: come taste through the green, gentle slopes of Oregon’s unique beauty, and emerge through Columbia River to find the stern, mighty desert of Washington State…One, powerfully raw. The other, raw power.” …

It’s time for our BC wines to be recognized by our peers.  The results from the 2023 British Columbia Lieutenant Governor’s Wine Awards have been announced. Here is the press release.  Pick up the bottles that won as soon as possible as they will sell out soon! ~~~ (KELOWNA, BC) – April 18, 2023: On April 3 through 5, 2023,…

It has been four years since I last attended Taste Washington in Seattle.  COVID shut down the event, but now Taste Washington is back and maybe even better.  This is the event where you can taste the wide variety of wines made across Washington state, without having to drive yourself.  Winery focus seems to have changed.  During my tasting time,…

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…

In celebration of International Riesling Day on March 13, I thought I would talk about the wine classification system of Germany, as many quality Riesling wines come from Germany and these wines are held as benchmarks for the rest of the world. The German wine classification system is divided into four levels. Tafelwein is the lowest level of the German…

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…

Twenty-five wines coming from BC and around the world made it to my near-perfect – star category this year.  I’ve arranged these fantastic wines into BC wines followed by wines from the rest of the world.  Italian wine showed up prominently with my near-perfect wine scores.  Chardonnay showed prominently as well, primarily from BC. You should still be able to…

This was the first Swirl Around BC trade tasting since the COVID lockdown where you could actually walk around tables, talk to winery principals and have them pour their wines for you.  Earlier in the day, I attended the Masterclass on Expressions of People, Place and Time.  It was quite informative and attendees were able to taste BC wines from…