1) Bordeaux is France’s largest quality wine region and largest producer of AOC wine.2) The quality of its vintages drives the fine wine market globally. 3) Bordeaux’s rich history, commercial significance, mercantile mindset, size, and quality set it apart from other French wine regions.

Summary: Join us for the latest in our ever-popular 'Beyond the Basics' series. From Ice Wine to Botrytis, Passerillage Pantelleria, there is a plethora of different styles and methods involved in producing these heavenly nectars. We are delighted to welcome back Nova Cadamatre MW to lead this session for a deep-dive into the processes and potential pitfalls involved in making great dessert wines.  About the Speaker: A winemaker with a broad and diverse

Summary: In this video we taste three exquisite examples of Semillon/Sémillon from France and Australia, each with a really nice bit of bottle age. Justin recaps some of the textbook knowledge about this grape variety, as well as the key winemaking and viticultural factors that give the wines their unique personalities. We also cover some blind tasting tips about how you might tell these wines apart from other similarly styled examples from around the

Lonely Planet has released their Best in Travel 2017 guide about THE places to visit in the next year…and Bordeaux tops their list as the No. 1 city destination in the world! {youtube}GfyqZxpfdFc{/youtube} Bordeaux contains more preserved historical buildings – such as Place de la Bourse – than any city in France aside from Paris © Justin Foulkes / Lonely Planet

Summary:  The allure and legacy of Bordeaux is legend. It has enjoyed centuries of success, not only because of a gifted terroir but also because of the uncanny business sense of its producers. Never resting on its laurels, the region has maintained its spotlight within the world of wine and established itself as cutting-edge and avante garde within the realm of viti/vini research

Summary: With more than 100,000 hectares, Bordeaux is the largest wine-growing region in the world, but today it is desperately out of fashion. Bordeaux “bashing”, climate change and a decline in global wine consumption are putting the world's most famous wine region at risk. While a few prestigious Grand Crus retain their appeal, the industry is facing a crisis akin to the phylloxera outbreak. But solutions do exist. In this presentation, we will take an in-depth look at

Anyone who has been to Bordeaux is familiar with this signature sweet. It almost defies description: a rich popover dough with a custardy interior, coated in a dark, thin, crispy caramel. It is love at first bite and the souvenir shops know this. They sell the molds. But buyer beware…insiders swear that the authentic versions can only be achieved by copper forms.

Summary:  Beyond Sauternes and Barsac there are eight AOPs for Sweet Bordeaux that frame the Garonne river. Although these AOPs are neighbors, their climatic and geologic nuances result in a complex range of expressions and wine styles from Semillon, Sauvignon, and Muscadelle. Deborah will be presenting the following wines/AOPs geographically starting with the Moelleux which can be

Let's face it: Bordeaux is struggling. A recurring theme during my latest visit was producers lamenting declining sales, despite their wines tasting rather delicious. In January, the Gironde Chamber of Agriculture reported that more than 1,320 winegrowers were facing financial challenges – a situation that prompted the agriculture ministry to allocate €57 million to support the uprooting of nearly 10,000 hectares of vines in the region.

Every wine appellation in France has a cahier des charges, a set of regulations that delineates the production zone and specifies viticultural practices and production standards. In many instances, a single cahier des charges references one zone of production and multiple wine styles within it (e.g. Lirac red, white, and rosé; Rasteau dry red, plus red, white and rosé Vins Doux Naturels). Some single cahiers also incorporate complementary geographic denominations or dénominations géographiques complémentaires (DGCs) such as Languedoc Montpeyroux or Bourgogne Hautes Côte de Nuits. Other times, very different wines can be grouped under one single cahier as is the case for Beaujolais, Beaujolais Supérieur, Beaujolais + Named Commune, and Beaujolais-Villages.

Summary: Our next Meeting of the Minds will cover the issues and challenges facing Bordeaux, France's largest AOC wine region and an area that drives the global fine wine market. Jane Anson, Bordeaux expert and author of the encyclopedic Inside Bordeaux (described as a 'category buster' by Jamie Goode and 'the most complete, up to date and scientifically accurate book on

Summary:  Bordeaux may serve as a general model for fine-wine regions worldwide, but one Bordeaux institution is little imitated elsewhere: its property classifications.  How and why did these come into being?  How do they differ from one another?  Is it better to leave an original classification unchanged since inception, as the 1855 classification of the

Mastering Bordeaux, a primer with Jane Anson and Andrew Jefford of Decanter Magazine.

Award-winning author and Decanter Magazine columnist Jane Anson draws us deeper into the Bordeaux conversation and reveals what she discovered while working on her massive new book project, Inside Bordeaux, and what to expect when the book is launched in Spring 2020.

Summary: To some observers, Saint Emilion is the epicentre of the qualitative and stylistic revolution in Bordeaux, bursting with courageous and dedicated artisanal wine estates pushing the boundaries, regardless of tradition and hierarchy. To others, Saint Emilion has become a byword for the worst excesses of hubris and greed in a region already well known for them.  In this webinar,

Assisting trip instructor Gerard Basset MW, MS, our Tour Manager Sarah Beck-Graham reports daily on the learnings and encounters on our 2017 Bordeaux wine study trip taking place October 1st through 6th 2017. Sarah lives in Bordeaux and has 15 years of experience in the Bordeaux wine industry.  She has been manager of a top Right Bank chateau and worked for several top Bordeaux wine merchants. She now guides wine tours in the region and handles logistics for wine-related events.

Summary: The city of Bordeaux has recently been governed by a green mayor, more than 14,000 hectares of vineyards are certified organic or are being converted, and biodynamics is experiencing great popularity.In the Gironde region, too, it has been realized, not least after various pesticide scandals, that neither people nor the environment can be poisoned for a luxury product like wine. In this webinar, we want to get to the bottom of the efforts for more

The grape varieties of Veneto Veneto’s grape varieties are almost equally divided between white and red. More than 60% of the cultivated varieties are native or Italian grapes. Among them, the indigenous Glera, Garganega and Corvina Veronese account for almost half of Veneto’s total plantings.

Summary:  The system of buying, selling and trading Bordeaux wines through a virtual marketplace known as La Place is unusual and by turns both frustrating and effective. But how does it work, how is it changing today, and what about it is attracting more and more international wines in recent years? Presenter: Jane Anson Jane Anson has lived in Bordeaux since 2003. She is author of Inside Bordeaux (BB&R Publishing 2020, called a ‘category buster’ by Wine

Friuli Grave DOC Friuli Grave was previously called Grave del Friuli but is often simply referred to as Grave. This is the largest DOC, both in terms of area under vine and in production. It accounts for more than one-third of Friuli’s total wine production.