I recently had the opportunity to speak with Nancy Rugus, who is the Director of the Americas for Compagnie Medocaine Des Grands Crus, a Bordeaux negociant. She was kind enough to answer a few questions for me about a subject near and dear to her heart – French Wine!

1. How did you get started in the wine business?

I fell in love with food and wine. I was teaching in the NYC public schools and took a leave of absence to start selling wine in NYC for a wine division at one of the larger distributors. I had no …

The summer in between my junior and senior years of college, I spent several weeks in Belgium on an art history study abroad program. It just so happened, that while I was there, my aunt and uncle and their two little boys were visiting France on vacation. Since train travel is so easy in Europe, one weekend I headed down to Rheims (Reims in French), a major city in the Champagne region.

Cindy and Jon, my aunt and uncle, are passionate travelers and so we spent the day exploring the beautiful city of Rheims. We toured the fantastic Notre-Dame de Reims (the …

Very few grapes have dominated the wine industry like the white grape known as Chardonnay. Almost no other grape seems to have the same name recognition or awareness. Many consider Chardonnay to be the “King” of the grape world, although in recent years there has been a movement afoot to challenge its global domination – you will find some wine lovers who live by the “ABC” code: anything but Chardonnay. Despite issues of over-planting and the fact that there is a lot of inferior Chardonnay out there on the market, Chardonnay remains a grape that we shouldn’t hesitate to put on a pedestal.

Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!” (the new Beaujolais has arrived!) This symbolic phrase has made Beaujolais one of the best known wines in the world.

But the Beaujolais country is not limited to the festive character of the new wine: the whole region is dedicated to the cult of the land.

Here, people are marked with a conviviality and a way of life that are enriched by the variety of the 12 appellations or approved labels. The country of golden stone opens its arms to you as far as the gates of Lyon.

The 12 Beaujolais Appellations