The Wines of Tomorrow
Summary:
Michelle Bouffard takes you along to meet the key players, thinkers and innovators who are redefining wine as we know it. Tradition, climate change, economics, trends and innovation collide in insightful one-hour discussions with the leading wine personalities of tomorrow.
2023 DATES:
June 7 - with Andrea Mullineux
Oct 11 - details to follow
Dec 6 - details to follow
Host: Michelle Bouffard
Originally from Quebec, Michelle moved to Vancouver to complete her Bachelor of Music degree in classical trumpet where she unexpectedly ventured into wine while working in a fine dining restaurant. Determined to make her mark in the wine industry, she graduated as a sommelier with the highest honours from the International Sommelier Guild in 2003 and completed the Diploma from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) in 2005.
Michelle was the co-owner of house wine from 2003 to 2015, a highly regarded company based in Vancouver that specialized incellar management and educational events. She also founded and was also the president of British Columbia chapter of the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers.
Michelle now lives and teaches WSET courses in Montreal and gives numerous training sessions including for wine associations such as Inter Rhône, Wines of Portugal, Wines of New Zealand and Wine Australia. She works closely with the nursery Lilian Bérillon located in the Rhone Valley acting as a wine educator and ambassador.
Michelle first book “Dis-moi qui tu es, je te dirai quoi boire” was published by Cardinal Editions in 2017, and has contributed to the recipe book “Le Secret des Vietnamiennes” by Kim Thùy. For the past five years, she has been the sommelier on the popular Quebec cooking show Curieux Bégin. She also writes for Quench, Véro and Meininger’s Wine Business International magazines and can be heard on the radio show of Pénélope on CBC radio.
In 2017, Michelle founded Tasting Climate Change, an international symposium to explore the challenges and solutions in the wine industry. In 2018, Urbania Magazine recognized her work by selecting her as one of 50 extraordinary Quebecers.
Michelle is often invited to sit on various panels and judges at numerous wine competitions in Canada and abroad. Ever the eternal perfectionist, she is continuing her studies at the prestigious Institute of Masters of Wine.
Guest: Andrea Mullineux
A winemaker and co-owner of both the Mullineux and Leeu Passant wineries in South Africa, she developed her passion for wine at the family dinner table, growing up in San Francisco. After studying Viticulture and Oenology at UC Davis, and completing a handful of harvests in the Napa Valley, Andrea worked in Stellenbosch where she developed her love for South African wine, especially Chenin Blanc.
Andrea's next harvest was in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, where a passion for Rhône varieties developed and eventually lead to her meeting her husband Chris. Together they started Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines in 2007, first establishing Mullineux in the Swartland and eventually Leeu Passant in Franschhoek, both of which quickly gained a world-class reputation.
In 2014 Andrea was invited to in the Cape Winemakers Guild and has just successfully completed her role as Chair for the Guild. In 2016 she was awarded International Winemaker of the Year by Wine Enthusiast. The winery has been named Platter's South African Winery of the Year 5 times and in 2017 she was named as Tim Atkin's South African Winemaker of the Year alongside her husband, Chris.
Other WSG Replays with Andrea Mullineux and/or Michelle Bouffard
