On the Road with the Grape Guy

Report from - The French Wine Study ... September 27, 2008

Details

Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

The French spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to conduct a study to confirm every single stereotype about French wine you can think of:  it is perceived as snobby, elitist and expensive; except in Quebec, where it is seen as exhibiting traditional French values and is priced fairly.  What the French really spent that money on was to show that we Canadians are a divided lot:  what goes for Quebec does not go for Ontario and it certainly isn’t true in Western Canada … and nobody drinks wine East of Quebec.  At least that is the perception I took away from the French wine study conducted by Sopexa and Wines of France and revealed this morning in what seems to be a condemned building turned into an art studio (The Burroughs Building on Queen Street).

Now maybe I’m being a little bit facetious about the whole thing … certainly not all Canadians see French wine as elitist and expensive, but they sure do in B.C.  I have met plenty to French winemakers and I find them to be congenial and forthright and passionate about their land, their wine and their country.  But what does the rest of the world think of them – more importantly, what do Canadians believe about French wine?  In an effort to find out and see where their market is, Wines of France set out to find out.

First, a little general knowledge about us as a nation: (Read more)

To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.
 

Report from - The Torley Dinner ... September 17, 2008

Details

Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

Two of the principles from Torley joined us here in Toronto for a dinner at the Courtyard restaurant in Yorkville and to let us try some old favourites, recently released and hopefully, soon to be released wines, from this Hungarian wine making giant.

Haven't heard of Torley? Well maybe you've tried their Hungaria Grande Cuvee Brut ($11.10 - #619288), most people have, it is very popular here and abroad. In fact, it seems that's what Torley started out as in 1882 when Jozsef Torley left Roedere's Champagne house in France to start his own company in his native Hungary. Today Torley makes 10 different kinds of sparkling wine (6 in the charmat method, 2 transfer method and 2 traditional) to the tune of 6.1 million bottles annually, and growing. They sell most of their sparkling at home (76%) by far the king of the Hungarian market, but their still wine is mostly for import (57% gets sent out of country). So for those of you who know them for their bubbly here are a few more choices in Torley wines you might enjoy ... (Read more)

To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.