Everything that I do is about educating, whether it’s teaching or consulting. We look at the entire world of wine – the business end, the viniculture; viticulture and how everything works – not only how it tastes or smells. 

Billie@ThruTheVines.com


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By 3Beauty, Culture, Food, Living, Travel, Wine

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Rhône to Provence 8-Day Wine & Food Experience with "Thru The Vines" October 28th, 2023 -November 4th, 2023 This small group tour through Southern France is for lovers of fine wine, exceptional cuisine, and an appreciation of French culture, and people. From stunning hilltops to the breathtaking Mediterranean coastline, explore and visit small artisan wineries, whose wines are available for purchase here in the USA. Prepare and dine on sumptuous meals with some of the region’s top chefs. Return each day to charming and unique accommodations chosen especially for you the discerning traveler. For more information and booking click here [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

By 1Wine

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] ‘For the tables of kings and the altars of the Gods’   Chateau d’Issan 2015 3rd Grand Cru Classé Margaux Bordeaux France   I  was so fortunate to visit this amazing Chateau in 2017 on the annual Master of Wine student trip for first year candidates.  It was the 20th anniversary of this trip, and we saw some amazing properties. It was overwhelmingly amazing for those of us who had never been to this region before. We actually got to tour the actual Chateau, which is very old,and rarely are people allowed to come inside. It is still inhabited, but is filled with pieces from the 1600’s and it is recognized as a historical landmark by the

By 1Wine

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]‘We respect the diversity expressed by each vintage’ Giulio Grasso   I love when wineries can allow a vintage to speak to us.  CA’del BAIO Barbaresco Vallegrande DOCG 2016 100% Nebbiolo (obvs) 15%abv Piedmont Italy    Aromatics of Red and black cherries with a hint of roses and a tarry note. Classic Nebbiolo nose. The fruit was concentrated on the palate, with grippy, but fine tannin and mouth watering acidity. At 15% alcohol, I expected to taste it , but I didn’t, as it was well integrated and balanced with the generosity of fruit flavours,    These hand harvested grapes are fermented with natural yeasts in stainless steel for 7-15 days, and then mature for 2 years in old Slavonian

By 1Wine

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Cosimo Maria Masini Matilde Rosato Toscana, Italy 90% Sangiovese 10% Sanforte   This is a rose I look forward to every summer, and it drinks beautifully all year long. A bit more ‘substantial’ than a provencal rose, it is made from Sangiovese an an old indegenous Tuscan variety called SanForte. SanForte has a lot of the same properties as Sangiovese, with added violet aromatics and a bit of savouriness. This wine was fresh and red cherried with an earthy minerality cutting through it. So great with cold smoked Alaskan salmon and baby Kale salad.    The grapes were hand harvested with whole bunch pressing after about 5 hours of maceration on the skins and fermented with

By 2Wine

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]This wine makes me happy. Aromatic  and fresh on nose and palate; Meyer lemon flesh and pith;  clean and mineral driven(saline+stone) and medium bodied with a silky, almost oily mouthfeel. Great with Grilled Ahi and Cilantro/Lime aioli and of course my current read: John Gladstone’s Wine, Terroir and Climate Change.   Guimaro Vino Blanco Pedro Rodriguez Ribeira Sacra 100% Godello   Godello is a grape believed to originate from the Galician region of Spain. It almost disappeared (down to only several hundred vines) in the mid 1970s until  Horacio Fernandez and Luis Hidalgos’ ‘Revival Godello Project’ Several great examples of 100% Godello now exist as it is showing great promise as a varietal wine.  DNA profiles show

By 1Wine

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Oh my..what a delicious glass of stony red and black-berried fruits and bramble coupled with a  textured phenolic grip and bone dry finish. With a chill, this slightly murkish, magenta-hued wine was so refreshing and quaffable.  At only 11.5 % alcohol, I had to stop myself from drinking the entire bottle.   This is another excellent wine from Tiago Sampaio and his Folias de Baco winery in the Douro Valley, Portugal.   Uivo Renegado is an unfined, unfiltered, wild-ferment wine ;a blend of 25 red and white indegenous varieties, hand harvested from 80 year old vines. The whole clusters macerate  3 days, followed by spontaneous fermentation for approximately 3 weeks in 1000L

By 1Wine

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Chateau Pontet-Canet is a Fifth growth Bordeaux in Pauillac, and is one of my most memorable wine estate visits. It was part of my  MW student Bordeaux trip in March of 2017. Alfred Tesseron was a welcoming and warm host, and along with his “régisseur”(viticulturist and winemaker) Jean-Michel Comme, we tasted through several vintages, wandered through the vineyards and winery learning about this biodynamically certified  estate. The wines we tasted were all elegant, delicious, with fine tannin and black berried brilliance.Tasting through the vintages, you can see the stamp that is Pontet-Canet, and the freshness and purity of the fruit featuring more prominently in more recent years; mirroring their