What's Going On in the World of French Wines

Wow – I can’t believe my time in France is coming to an end! Tomorrow marks the last day of my trip and I am already trying to figure out when to come back. And where to go when I do! I have seen so many absolutely amazing and beautiful sites in the last few days as well as had some delicious meals and tasted a variety of fascinating wines. I can’t wait for the videos we have been shooting to be ready to be put up on the blog – I think you will all get quite a kick out of them!

This trip has been quite a whirlwind, which has …

Wow – it has been a crazy last few couple of days. The Masters of Wine Symposium in Bordeaux was a terrific event, but boy, did it keep me busy. There were a number of really interesting sessions, including a keynote address from Sir John Hegarty, Chairman & Worldwide Creative Director of Bartle Bogle Hegarty, an advertising agency. One quote from Sir John really stood out to me – he said that “wine is the flavor of life.” I found that to be a really profound message. Wine is, as I have said before, such an interdisciplinary subject and capable of being so many different things. It can be both a …

Bonjour! As I write this, I am sitting on a train traveling from Paris to Bordeaux. In my last blog entry I mentioned that I was heading off to France. Well, I survived the adventure of packing and my flight to arrive in France this past Sunday morning. So far I have visited Alsace and Loire for some vlog filming with the Lost in Francelation team, and today I am making my way to Bordeaux for the Masters of Wine Symposium. Traveling by train through France (even with a bunch of luggage) is definitely something I recommend – the trains are very convenient and super fast. And given they have places …

I love to travel, really I do. But I hate packing…I reeeeeeeeeeeally hate it. I like to always be prepared for things and when you travel, that’s hard to do – especially if you are trying to travel "light". We have two mottos in my family – "if you can’t carry it, don’t take it" and "there are stores where we are going". Essentially they boil down to the same message – don’t take EVERYTHING. But the trip that I am heading off on this weekend is going to be a little different, and so I’ve been having a little trouble sticking to all of my packing rules. And the number …

Eric Asimov has a very interesting article in last week’s New York Times about Bordeaux. I think his columns are excellent and thought-provoking. This one, entitled “Bordeaux Loses Prestige Among Younger Wine Lovers,” is no exception.

In the article Asimov asserts that “While the drop stems from far more competition in the lower-priced market, it also reflects a shift in the demographic of Bordeaux aficionados. For young Americans in particular, Bordeaux has become downright unfashionable.”

Wow – now that’s a statement that makes me stop and think, especially about the “unfashionable” part. What exactly makes a wine unfashionable and who dictates what wines are “in” or “out”? And more …