Last week, in honor of International Women’s Day, we covered some of the interesting women involved with the wine industry. There were so many different women in France I wanted to mention that I had to break up the article into two parts! So here is Part II and some more information about notable French women who are an important part of French culture or the French wine industry.

Beaujolais

In the past, one could say that Beaujolais has been dominated by the popularity of one man’s name. These days, while that name is still very well-known, there are a host of other names that are gaining in popularity and reputation. …

Last week I found myself sitting at an airport restaurant waiting for a delayed flight. There was a basketball game on, so I decided to kill some time and sit at the bar, have a beer, and catch part of the game. The man next to me, who was waiting for the same flight, overheard my cheering (Duke was playing NC State), and we struck up a conversation.

Naturally, the conversation eventually turned to jobs and he asked me what I do. Upon finding out that I work as a wine educator, his reaction was a very interesting one. He told me that he and his wife love wine, although they …

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.