Recently I had the pleasure of spending a few days in Roussillon – an area I think is not only spectacularly beautiful, but also a region that is producing some truly exciting wines these days. Roussillon is located right on the French-Spanish border and the proximity to the Pyrénées and the Mediterranean make it a region ideal for producing aromatic whites; intense, concentrated red wines; and rich, sweet fortified wines.

Before I get into my recap of the wineries I visited and some of the wines I tasted, I thought it might be fun to share some of my pictures with you today. Cheers!

Happy Beaujolais Nouveau day! Today is the third Thursday in November – the day that Beaujolais Nouveau is released and available for purchase. Beaujolais Nouveau, made from the Gamay grape from the Beaujolais region in France, is one of the first wines of the new harvest and it is young, fresh, fruity and low in tannins. While celebrating the release of Beaujolais Nouveau isn’t quite the spectacle it once was, it is still a pretty fun day to be a wine lover. Many restaurants, bars and wine clubs find it to be a great way to get people together to eat and drink and mark the occasion.

You might be asking yourself how …

A quick news flash for you all! I am going to be hosting a webinar this week along with representatives from Atout France. On November 18, at 2pm, tune into http://us.franceguide.com/Special/Webinar-Wines/home.html?NodeID=2836 for a fun-filled hour (Don’t forget to register!). We will highlight the areas of Rhône-Alpes, Vallée du Rhône and Aquitaine. You’ll have a chance to learn all about some of the wonderful wines from these areas as well as be given tips on where to go and what to do when you visit France.
I hope you can join me!

I’m conducting a tasting class or, as my husband called it the other day – the Great Turkey Experiment, with a friend next week that will focus on how to pair wines with Thanksgiving dinner. We’ve decided to each pick 3 or 4 wines that we feel will go well and then for the class, we will pair the wines along with a few slices of turkey and some of the traditional Thanksgiving sides. The way Jay and I look at it, there are lots of discussions about what wines go well with your turkey dinner, but how many classes actually go so far as to let you do a practice run testing out the …

The other night we opened a bottle of wine with dinner and I commented to my husband that I thought the wine tasted "young". Since I had just spent several minutes prior to tasting the wine explaining to him the meaning behind the phrase "Vieilles Vignes" on the bottle’s label, my husband looked at me like I was crazy. His perplexed expression made it clear that I hadn’t completely clarified just what the term "old vines" means when it comes to wine.

"Vieilles Vignes" is a French expression that means "old vines". Now, unfortunately, the phrase "old vines", as it pertains to wine, doesn’t have a set definition. It isn’t like the vine hits …