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…

Taste the Place: The Terroir Symposium & the Terroirnomics of Local

Terroir – muses Jay McInerney in his book, Bacchus and Me – is essentially the Burgundian inspired word for ‘dirt’ and dirt, he argues, is really just a proxy for ‘location, location, location’. Whether it’s the wine we drink or the food we grow – location and dirt are indeed at the root of all…

CheckMate: Anthony von Mandl’s Master Class in Terroir Curation

Checkmate Artisanal Winery: 4799 Wild Rose Street, Oliver, Okanagan Valley, BC CheckMate doesn’t boast a high-end, architecturally inspiring winery – yet. What it has, instead, is a chessboard of ten, site-specific, small-lot vineyards in the southern region of the Okanagan Valley that provide a fabulously distinct range of Chardonnay and Merlot fruit. If you are a…

Part 2 – Working the #2017 Paso Robles Vintage @ Rangeland Wines

I decided earlier this spring it was time for another harvest experience. I can drink wine till the cows come home (see exhibit A) but as an educator, I know the best learning happens when students are given hands on, real-world experience and – most importantly – responsibility for making real-world decisions. In the wine…

Cowichan Valley: The Coolest Wine Destination You’ve Likely Never Heard Of

The Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, is probably best know for its prized, all-weather, Cowichan sweaters. The iconic images of whales, eagles, bear and snowflakes woven into a First Nation’s cultural motif make these wooly sweaters recognizable around the world. These days, the Cowichan Valley is building a reputation beyond its island knitters…

Waipara Valley Terroir

    You can’t drink wine and not consider the geography, botany and geology of the place that goes into your glass. Wine descends from the surface soils, bedrock, aspect, slope, winds and the geological cocktail of minerals and nutrients that feed the viticulture in the region. Most of us tip, pour and drink and…