The Demystified Vine

Taking the mystery out of wine exploration!

I knew it was going to be a good seminar when I could see the line-up of attendees curling around the corner of the hallway at the Vancouver Convention Centre on Saturday, March 3rd, 2018. People approached the front table asking, “is that the line-up to get in?” Yes, yes it was. Folks eagerly awaited …

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The fires were definitely burning on the night of the Rodney Strong Vineyards dinner at Black + Blue Restaurant as part of the Vancouver International Wine Festival. As one proceeded off of the elevator onto the rooftop patio, a buzz of anticipation greeted eager wine loving guests. About the Winery Hailing from Sonoma County in California, …

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An Infographic: Noble Grapes & Their Key Wine Characteristics

June 4, 2015

There are many winelovers out there who wish they could know more about wine. Consistently, I hear the comment, “Oh, I can’t tell the difference between a white and a red wine.” Okay, let’s start with colour, right? But I get it. It’s not about the colour of the wine. It’s about all that mumbo-jumbo that surrounds picking out key characteristics in wine and how those differentiate one varietal from another.

At that point, I usually find myself wanting to demystify those key characteristics because, well, I’m an educator. As such, I’ve created a quick reference guide for (most) of the Noble grape varieties. Noble grapes are also known as “Key Grape Varieties”. Syrah is considered to be a key grape variety as well, but I couldn’t work it into my web. Shout out to Syrah…you know I love you!

For those of you not entirely well-versed in wine, use this to help you on your wine journey. Please note that this is not an exhaustive list. There are many more characteristics used to describe these individual wines. The characteristics I have included are the most common for each grape and how that grape shows itself in its final product.

Enjoy, and remember to “like” the Demystified Vine on Facebook for fun facts, memes, and other wine-related articles.

Cheers!

The Demystified Vine

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The other night I was enjoying a 2012 Chartron et Trébuchet “Cuvée de la Chapelle” Pouilly-Fuissé. While sipping it, I couldn’t help but be a little bit peeved over the fact that I’ve heard countless people say they hate Chardonnay. Don’t get me wrong. I know that there are a lot of people on that …

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I’m a nerd. I’m a wine nerd for that matter, and I’m constantly birthing new ideas and entertaining possible queries on how I can engage my readers with the beautiful and intriguing wonderful world of wine! So I thought… I’m going to write about the etymology of grape varietals and their names. I soon realized …

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