I have been fortunate enough to celebrate La Fête Nationale Francaise – Le Quatorze Juillet, a holiday marking the anniversary of the fall on July 14, 1789 of the Bastille, in Paris on a number of occasions. As readers of this blog know, I was a Francophile in my early life and majored in French... Continue Reading →
Falling In Love with Champagne: My First Visit to a Wine region
This month the #winophiles traveled to Champagne for unexpected pleasures tour. thanks to Gwendolyn of Wine Predator. Her preview post is here. Her second post about the area is here and so resonated with me when thinking about experiences in the Champagne region. Champagne was the first wine region that I visited on a quest to... Continue Reading →
Monday Musings: Wine Education
My Monday musing is about wine education and it's importance to the industry and to me personally. I finally got around to taking my French Wine Scholar exam today. It was a long time in the making. I had been signed up and continued paying my extension for years. This time though, I actually really... Continue Reading →
Vin Jaune and Comté – A Perfect Combination – #Winophiles
This month's #winophiles is all about French wine and cheese. Martin Redmond of Enofylzwineblog, our host, posted a preview about the topic here. While some lucky few received samples, I bought my wine and cheese from local purveyors and had the occasion to speak to the lovely Hortense Bernard of Millesima USA. I used to... Continue Reading →
Celebrating France with Chablis and Toasting Notre Dame – #Winophiles
Chablis is one of the first wines I drank from France growing up. My parents used to buy it and they let me drink wine pretty early on following a couple of European vacations. For the longest time though, I am sure I had no idea about the grape variety used to make it or... Continue Reading →
Wine Wednesday: Crémant D’Alsace Domaine Mittnacht Freres
This week's Wine Wednesday is about a wonderful Crémant D'Alsace. While most people who know me, think of me as an Italophile, the truth is long before I fell in love with Italy, I was a Francophile. I even majored in French in college and considered becoming a French professor so these virtual trips to France... Continue Reading →
November 15, 2018, Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!
Le Beaujolais est arrivé! It's November 15, the third Thursday in November and Beaujolais Nouveau, the first wine of the harvest makes it's entrance onto the market. I always run right out and buy a bottle at my local liquor store. They had one brand - George Duboeuf. The marvelous company that basically owns the... Continue Reading →
Le Beaujolais Nouveau est Arrivé
Today is Beaujolais Nouveau Day, the third Thursday in November. Today's wine was the first Beaujolais I had this year. According to French law, this wine made from Gamay grapes can be released at 12:01 a.m., quite soon after the harvest. Many are quite critical of Beaujolais Nouveau and it's fresh, fruity style. I am... Continue Reading →
Picnic Wines: Memorial Day
While the weather decides what it wants to do today, I have figured out what I feel like drinking with our picnic later - Beaujolais. Beaujolais made from the gamay grape comes in many different iterations, all of which would work with picnic fare. Beaujolais Nouveau is considered by many to be less than a... Continue Reading →
Monday Musings On Wine Education: Studying French Wines
There has been a lot of talk in the blogsphere and in wine magazines of late about the importance or necessity of getting a degree in wine. I have always been on the side of that debate that opts for education, formal and informal. I firmly believe that at all levels of the industry from... Continue Reading →