Category: terroir

Today I have another lesser-known AOC in the southern Rhone Valley – AOC Ventoux.  You may be very familiar with one of the wineries from AOC Ventoux, Château Pesquié.  Their wine labels in solid blocks of colour should be very familiar to you when you check on the shelves in the BC Liquor Stores and elsewhere across Canada.  I have…

Many of us are familiar with the wine regions of Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, and the Rhone Valley, but there are many sub-regions, which have their own Appellation d’origine Contrôlée (AOC) that produce quality wines at reasonable prices.  Many of the wineries are family-run as well, with the vineyards and wineries being passed down through families.  I would like to present…

What is meant by a “Cru” in wine?  The term “Cru” is most often used for the French classification system, but the “Cru” concept can apply to any vineyard region recognized for their superior wine quality. My last seminar during the Vancouver International Wine Festival was on the topic of “cru”.  What it is and how it is expressed.  We…

Andrew Jefford is an English journalist, radio presenter, poet, magazine editor, a wine writer for Decanter magazine and much more. He lives near Montpellier in France. Why am I telling you this?  Andrew lead our French Terroir Talk during this seminar at the Vancouver International Wine Festival.  If there was anyone with the background knowledge of wine and experience of…

Do you know what a Geographical Indication (GI) means in the BC wine industry? According to a BC Ministry of Agriculture press release, a GI is “…a standard element of appellation systems used around the world that help people identify wines in the marketplace, provide assurance as to the origin and quality of the wine, and promote agri-tourism. British Columbia…

This is my second year attending Top Drop Vancouver, where small-scale producers from around the world show us their hand crafted wines. According to Top Drop, “Our focus is terroir-influenced, handcrafted wines, and the people behind them. W e believe in the importance in farming one’s own fruit and/or being constantly engaged with grape-growers to ensure sustainability and a high…

Who is Pedro Parra? A French-educated Chilean, who looks at the definition of terroir through the use of modern scientific techniques.  The Old World has many hundreds of years to experiment, but in the New World, we do not have luxury.  From my interview at the Vancouver International Wine Festival, find out how Pedro determines terroir and the best grapes to…

From my first article posing the question, “what unique aromas and flavours may be characterized by BC’s Pinot Noir based on soil type“, I’ve led you through my process of tasting the wines, adding the tasting notes to a computerized GIS map, overlaid the tasting notes vineyard locations to a soil map of BC, and finally aggregating the flavours and…

Since I published my initial article, How Does BC Pinot Noir Express Terroir?, I have been receiving bottles of BC Pinot Noir from the 2013 and 2014 vintages, with a few from 2012.  The wineries who has graciously provided me with their wines for this study are: Thornhaven Estates Sperling Vineyards Burrowing Owl Niche Wine Co. Volcanic Hills Seven Directions…

Last year I was trying to answer the question “Are there any unique aromas and flavours in Riesling grown from a particular soil type in BC?”  Through donated bottles by BC wineries, I tasted through 35 bottles of BC Riesling, attaching my tasting notes to the geographic location of the vineyard where the grapes were sourced, and then overlaid this…