Tag: interview

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…

The 2022 harvest is the first after COVID restrictions have been lifted.  I am sure that lifting COVID restrictions was appreciated by BC wineries.  We had a cool start to the growing season, followed by mere mm of rain between July and mid-October so I’d guess the weather has had an impact on harvest and fermentation, but we shall see…

This is my fifth year interviewing winemakers in Ontario about their latest grape harvest and wine production.  To get a more complete picture of the harvest I asked the following questions to three winemakers in three different grape-growing regions of southern Ontario, which should have some differences in climate and harvest.   The three winemakers I interviewed this year are: Dan…

There is a constant growth in the number of new wineries in BC. One winery that I started to hear about this year is 1 Mill Road Winery, located on the Naramata Bench. They recently reached out to me for an interview. I was delighted to speak with Ben Bryant, co-owner and winemaker for 1 Mill Road. Below is my…

VanWineFest 2022 was a feat in getting all the components in motion to get wineries, agents, and wines into Vancouver after a 2-year hiatus.  I am thankful for everyone that worked so hard to make VanWineFest 2022 a reality.  I worked quite hard tasting wines, meeting and interviewing winery principals, and attending a dinner and seminar.  I posted individual articles…

My last video interview at the Vancouver International Wine Festival was with Mele Sosa from Bodega Garzón a winery in Uruguay.  This winery is well-known here for its Tannat and Albariño wines.  Mele has been coming to the VanWineFest for several years.  I have interviewed her in the past and am lucky to be able to interview her this year. …

At the Vancouver International Wine Festival, in the Tasting Room, I did have a chance to go through a flight of Monte Creek Winery wines with Winemaker Galen Barnhardt.  Below is a discussion of the wines with Galen.  Mostly Galen speaking, which is how an interview should be.  Enjoy. Galen:  Here we have our sparkling Rosé.  It is 2020, from the…