Category Archives: School

The Grand Tasting

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One weekend a year, the celebrated wine magazine Terre de Vins takes over the Bordeaux chamber of commerce in Palais de la Bourse for the Grand Tasting. The tasting is meant to be a celebration of the best of Bordeaux, but it also includes wines from around France and this year, an international selection.

The Grand Tasting

Last year, I was unable to attend the tasting. I was taking a wine and spirits class on Saturday and truthfully, I can’t even remember why I didn’t attend on Sunday. Sadly, this year’s Saturday wasn’t any different. I had class from 10-5. But this Sunday I rallied and arrived at the tasting just as the doors opened at 10 am. Continue reading →

The M2 Wine Tour

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DSC_0233I will admit to being very trepidatious about waking up early for the Master 2 Wine Tour, organized and led by the Director of my Master 1 program. The day was cold and promising to be wet, I had no idea what the day’s schedule included and I am the director’s biggest fan. But despite some valid concerns, a few bad moments and the poor weather, the tour turned out to be much better than expected.

Organized in conjunction with the Conseil des Grands Crus Classés en 1855 the day’s theme was…yup you guessed it…classified growths.  Continue reading →

The DWCC: Final Take Aways

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Ok. I know I’ve been writing a lot about the Digital Wine Communication Conference. I promise I’m almost done. And this post will be shorter than the other. So without further ado, here is my final list of take-aways from the conference

  • Wine nerds are not very formal
  • Neither are social media geeks
  • Never get between a wine blogger and the wine
  • Wine bloggers are seriously passionate about what they like and may god help you if you disagree
  • Not all aromatized wine-based beverages are crap (and yes I’m still having a hard time processing this one)
  • Swiss Wine is surprisingly complex and surprisingly good
  • So is English Sparkling wine
  • Conferences can be fun
  • Conferences are exhausting
  • Conferences are great for networking
  • Switzerland is an expensive place
  • Switzerland is a naturally beautiful backdrop but their innate practicality doesn’t always make for a beautiful city. Click here to see all the photos from my weekend.
  • What I know about social media is just a drop in the hat
  • What I know about wine is just a drop in the hat
  • My blog can (and will be) so much more
  • I need to visit Porto
  • Ditto for Turkey
  • And ditto again for the Mosel valley
  • And again for Piedmonte
  • Clearly I just need to travel more or at least I need to indulge in more oenotourism
  • I want a Coravin to play with
  • I want a copy of Wine Grapes
  • I NEED a new cell phone. After all it is a basic tool of my profession 😉
  • I may mock but I am one of those social media and one of those wine nerds

I’m already keeping my fingers crossed that my job situation will allow me to attend the conference next year. And for now, at least I’ve got an expended network to keep in touch with.