CANADIANS IN NAPA: EPISODE #5 When you’ve spent 44 years of your life in the northern reaches of Alberta, Canada on construction sites, oil rigs and pipeline corridors, no one should really be surprised when you decide to pack it in for the bucolic expanses of Napa Valley. And if you also spent those years…
Unconventional Wisdom: Jean-Michel Comme on the Vines & Wine of Pontet-Canet
Postscript: On May 11, 2020 Jean-Michel Comme resigned his position at Pontet-Canet, saying the pressure of the job had become unbearable. In our interview, he spoke openly and honestly about that incredible stress and the emotional toll of managing an estate with first growth expectations. It was an incredible interview for me. I wish…
Takin’ it to the Street: Pandemic-Weary, Quarantined Neighbours Drink & Review Canadian Wine
The other day I was walking my dog – observing physical-distancing best practices (!) – when I came across a neighbour’s bag of empty wine bottles parked beside the recycling bin. As a market researcher, I simply could not keep walking. This was a deliciously nerdy, ethnographic research study in a bag and it was…
Trial by Fire: Raising a Glass to Australia’s Recovery from the Bushfires
If you’d like to help support Australia’s recovery from the bushfires, consider lifting a glass of Aussie’s finest. Like so many local businesses, Australia’s wine producers have felt the impact of the devastating bushfires and many top producers will not be making wine in 2020. While research suggests only 1% of total vineyard area suffered…
A little Green with your Bordeaux? Château de La Dauphine’s Green Wine Tour
Perched on a rolling hill above the winding Dordogne River, Château de La Dauphine is one of the most visually stunning properties in Bordeaux. I first eyed this peaceful right bank beauty last year, as we drove westbound into Bordeaux along D670, the highway framing the south Fronsac appellation. It was my first trip to…
Eco-Savvy Château de Chantegrive: Trailblazing Bordeaux Vineyards are Rolling out Green Wine Tours
For me, the really juicy story swirling around the food and beverage category – and indeed just about every retail category – is the changing values of customers. Many consumers now rank a company’s environmental record higher on their list of “purchase considerations”. Seminal research is indicating this ‘sustainability mindset’ is a marketing game-changer. Some…
A Second French Revolution: Château Guiraud’s Sweet Eco Manifesto
Xavier Planty and his son Luc Planty may not be direct descendants of the 16th century owners of Château Guiraud in Sauternes, but they definitely inherited their revolutionary spirit. In fact, if there’s one word that best describes the wine business modus operandi of the Planty family, it’s rebellious. Which is exactly how one might…
Going Going Green: The Noble Winemaking Efforts of Bordeaux’s Domaine de Chevalier
It’s a bright, refreshingly cool morning in the vineyards of Domaine de Chevalier in Pessac-Léognan when the gravel soil of the namesake Graves region really starts to make its presence known. I’m in minute four of a low-level, half-squat, half-kneel position wrestling with an unbelievably prodigious Sauvignon Blanc vine. The current challenge: to wedge my…
Digging into Bordeaux’s Green Movement
I’m back from Bordeaux. Yes, again. How many visits to Bordeaux in a year constitute an addiction? No need to answer; it’s a rhetorical question. But for the record, I’m up to three. Some of my friends are calling me a wannabe Bordelaise. I am happy to report that’s true. Disclosures aside, the focus of…
Wines that are Better for You & the Environment. Meet Canadian Environmental Steward – Ann Sperling of Southbrook Vineyards
“Prescience” comes from the Latin verb praescire, which means to know beforehand, to have foresight. Prescient organizations often have leaders who – as the brilliant Queen’s University marketing professor Ken Wong says – aren’t afraid of leadership. “They recognize the ultimate competitive value is to be the best you.” Needless to say, to lead with…
Tasting the 2018 Bordeaux Futures: a palate-expanding experience
Tasting red wine en primeur is not for the faint of heart or faint of palate. Wine tasters participating in Bordeaux’s annual spring “futures” marathon go long and go hard. They must push themselves physically and mentally. Tasting schedules can be gruelling, demanding ~14 days of heavy lifting and one hundred plus Grands Crus Classé…
The Future of Futures: An En Primeur Newbie’s Wine Week in Bordeaux
Sometimes, the wine gods smile down on us from on high and good things happen. In my case, that good thing was news that my wine blog post on social media adoption in Bordeaux had been awarded the wine and technology top prize in the 2019 Millésima blog awards. It was paragraph two of…
