A visit to legendary Chateau Montelena has been on my bucket list since I learned about The Judgement of Paris – the seminal 1976 blind tasting event that pitted new-kid-on-the block California wine against the great wines of France. If it sounds like an epic battle, that’s because it was. At the time, it was…
Month: November 2017
Taste Canada Awards Gala: My Wine Pairing Challenge with Canada’s Top Chefs (part 2)
I’m at the 20th annual Taste Canada Awards Gala/Les Laureats des Saveurs du Canada at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Toronto. We’re here celebrating Canada’s top culinary chops and I’m at the chef-led food stations on a wine-pairing mission. The hallway is scented with the aromas of fall as some of Canada’s best chefs prepare their…
Taste Canada Awards Gala: Wine Pairing with Canada’s Top Chefs
There was a cornucopia of culinary royalty at the 20th annual Taste Canada Awards Gala/Les Laureats des Saveurs du Canada held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Toronto last month. The red carpet was rolled out to honour Canada’s finest cookbook authors, publishers and food bloggers with 24 Gold and Silver awards given out. Categories ranged from…
Tasting Notes: Rangeland Wines and the Wines of Paso Robles
Rangeland is one of the best-kept secrets in Paso and Paso is one of the best-kept secrets in the wine-world. It didn’t take me long to figure that out. The awareness challenge that I talked about in my first Paso post, is changing….slowly. The community is banding together to help get Paso the recognition it…
Risk and Reward: Wine Business Straight Talk from Rangeland’s Chief Wine Officer (CWO)
The Canadian ex-pat in the cowboy hat running Rangeland Wines in Paso Robles is Laird Foshay. An early investor in Silicon Valley who built and sold two startups in the digital publishing arena, Laird knows something about risk, reward and bridge financing. He jokes he and his wife Lisa are 17 years into a 25-year…
From Vine to Wine: Harvest Curriculum @ Rangeland Winery
Harvest is a feverish, high-energy time in the vineyard and winery. There’s nothing more exciting than seeing seven months of nature’s miracle growth transition from vine to wine. “Team Canada’s”* 10 days of working the Paso Robles, California harvest with winemaker, Paul Hinschberger and vineyard manager, Patrick Hamilton were not only rich in curriculum, but they…
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