Michelle Bouffard

November 6th, 2021- The 8TH Annual 4 F’s & Michelle  Bouffard

November 5, 2021 Tasting Room Radio

hello

The 8TH Annual 4 F’s & Michelle  Bouffard on Somm. of the Year & Tasting Climate Change

 

 THE SHOW

 It started 8 years ago as an idea. Let’s take some great food and wine and go fishing.

I made my pitch to:

John Weber    co-founder and winemaker at Orofino (Similkameen)

John Weber

Mark Filatow  Award winning Chef, Sommelier and Partner at Waterfront Wines Restaurant (Kelowna)

Rhys Mark and John

Rhys Pender  Master of Wine,  Little Farm Wines, wine judge  & WSET Educator Wine Plus+ (Similkameen)

Rhys Pender

Over the first 7 years we’ve lake fished, drift fished the Similkameen and Kettle Rivers,  salmon fished in Campbell River and hiked into remote lakes. Best of all, every time we gathered,  we all brought wines that we felt would be appreciated and Mark Filatow would create firepit meals that always featured huge Tomahawk steaks.

This year the guys went fishing when they could and I was house bound on Vancouver Island.

So… This week we met on Zoom and talked great wines.

For year 9  they’re coming to Mill Bay Vancouver Island.

Here’s a list of wines we each would have brought this year.

Chef Mark Filatow   Waterfront Wines

Mark Filatow

Markus Altenburger, Chardonnay vom Kalk, 2019, Weinland, Austria

 

Weingut Kruger-Rumpf, Munsterer Kapellenberg Riesling Kabinett 2001, Nahe, Germany

 

Veronica Ortega, ‘quite’ Mencia 2019, Bierzo, Spain

www.waterfrontrestaurant.ca

 

John Weber  Orofino

 

Jean Foillard Morgan 2019

Orofino Passion pit cab 2011

La Rioja Alta gran reserva 904 2001 mag

www.orofinovineyards.com

 

Rhys Pender MW  WinePLus+

Vajra Rosso 2019

Wynn’s 2007 Coonawarra Cab

Azahar Vinho Verde 2018

https://littlefarmwinery.ca/

www.wineplus.ca

 

TDMulligan

Else Wines – Jocko  (Echo Bay) a light cab franc

Modest Wines –  2018 zed’s dead (Zinfandel)

Maverick Estate Winery – 2019 Bush Vine Syrah

Thomson and Scott – Noughty  Organic Sparkling Chardonnay (alcohol free)

Odd Bird – Blanc De Blanc (Liberated from Alcohol) Sparkling Chardonnay

Rust Wine Co    Solus (Golden Mile Bench)

 

MICHELLE BOUFFARD

Sommelier, Author, journalist, speaker, educator, consultant.

Michelle Bouffard is a “force”.  She leads by example. Caring enough about this planet and its winegrowers that she conceived of and started Tasting Climate Change. The event takes place every two years. This year it will be held on line from Nov 8-30.   (Info below)

Michelle Bouffard

Tasting Climate Change is an international event organized founded and lead by Michelle, who acts as moderator of the conference. Michelle also offers training and consulting on the impact of climate change in the wine world.

 Originally from Quebec, Michelle moved to Vancouver to complete her Bachelor of Music degree in classical trumpet where she unexpectedly ventured into wine while working in a fine dining restaurant. Determined to make her mark in the wine industry, she graduated as a sommelier with the highest honours from the International Sommelier Guild in 2003 and completed the Diploma from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) in 2005.

Michelle was the co-owner of House Wine from 2003 to 2015. She also founded and was  president of BC chapter of the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers.

Michelle now lives and teaches WSET courses in Montreal and gives numerous training sessions including for wine associations such as Inter Rhône and Wine Australia. She works closely with the nursery Lilian Bérillon located in the Rhone Valley acting as a wine educator and ambassador.

Michelle first book “Dis-moi qui tu es, je te dirai quoi boire” was published in 2017.  She has a second book coming in 2022.

Michelle is often invited to sit on various panels and judges at numerous wine competitions in Canada and abroad. Ever the eternal perfectionist, she is continuing her studies at the prestigious Institute of Masters of Wine.

 

Michelle was also one of the judges at this years Sommelier of the Year competition. We start her interview right there, talking about how demanding  the competition is and the wild events they put each contestant through. The winner was Pier-Alexis Souliere from Quebec. Contestants were asked to display their knowledge of viticulture, wine regions, producers, spirits and beer.

https://www.tastingclimatechange.com/en/

 STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON

Cider tour of Vancouver Island and Gulf islands

Church and State

Tightrope

Zin

March 14th, 2020- The 42nd VanWineFest: A look back!

March 13, 2020 Tasting Room Radio 01:04:14

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VANWINEFEST  – A Look Back

The SHOW

The 42nd Vancouver International Wine Festival has come and gone. I’m told it was a huge success.

It was the first festival I had missed in 12 years of TRR.

Thing is,  I was in Oaxaca Mexico visiting family and getting closer to the story of Mescal.

Several weeks from now we’ll bring you the conversation we had with one of Mexico’s  very best Female Mescal Masters

Sosima Olivera…

Instead of doing 30-40 interviews at VanWineFest,  I ended up doing just one. But what a one.

Sosima and Terry in Oaxaca

This week’s edition of Tasting Room Radio looks back at some of the highlights and serious talking points from the 42nd VanWineFest.

 

 

Our Guests are:

 Christine Coletta – Okanagan Crush Pad.

Christine-Coletta

A real Key Wine Influencer. Maker of Freeform. Haywire. Narrative. The Bub.

What started as a Crush Pad has become a true farming leader in the Okanagan.

She was founding executive director of the BC Wine Institute, creator of the VQA and co-founder of Wines of Canada.

Christine’s most  recent honour was being named One of Wine’s Most Inspiring People for 2020 by Wine Industry Advisor.

Rather than ask CC about what she tasted at VanWineFest, I thought it best to get an overview of where we are as a wine region and where we’re headed.

One place we’re headed is Europe. Christine and friends  have been pouring in Europe for years now and they’re starting to notice.

Enjoy!!

www.okanagancrushpad.com

Harry Hertscheg – Executive Director Vancouver Wine Festival.

Harry-Hertscheg

It’s Harry’s show.  He spends his entire year leading a great creative team.

If anyone can give us a wrap up of the entire festival is Harry.

If you find yourself looking at sold out signs when you got to get tickets every year..Harry has the key to making sure that doesn’t happen again.

www.vanwinefest.ca

Michelle Bouffard   Sommelier. Educator. Journalist. Founder of Tasting Climate Change

Michelle Bouffard

One of the very busiest and committed participants at VanWineFest was Michelle.

She hosted panels and discussions on Climate Change and Wine.

Packaging, transport, extremes in temperature, water usage, tips for consumers  to buy wine with a lower carbon footprint.

This conversation was so engaging, the complete interview will be a podcast on Mulligan Stew Podcasts in several weeks. Details at  www.mulliganstew.ca

Michelle also has recommendations on Canadian and French wines she tasted.

https://www.tastingclimatechange.com/en/

Bernard Duseigneur – Domaine Duseigneur . Family member  and Manager.

Bernard Duseigneur

Domaine Duseigneur was founded by Jean Duseigneur in 1967.

In those formative years, Domaine Duseigneur was in rough condition and needed extensive work in the cellar and more importantly, in their vineyards. In 1992, his son Frederic along with his brother Bernard took over managing their Southern Rhone property.

 

They changed their vineyard management techniques starting with the 2004 vintage and became certified biodynamique three years later. They are also a member of Biodyvin, the International Bio-dynamic Vine growing Syndicate. in 2007, they brought in Philippe Cambie to consult on the vineyards and wine making.

They now manage 13 estates in the Languedoc/Roussillon Regions .

I wanted to present Bernard with several of his famous quotes about wine and perhaps see if he’d changed his mind.

Please enjoy the fine French winemaking manager of Domaine Duseigneur  Bernard Duseigneur

https://www.domaineduseigneur.com/?lang=en

STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON

Ned Bell – back in Naramata

OK Falls wineries  pour in Vancouver

Locals Only – artisans from Van Island to Vancouver.

Swirl and Untapped in Parksville

Chef Lee Cooper – L’Abattoir

Sosima Olivera – Fanekantsini Mescal Cooperative