Wining with Mel

Discover your wine style, one glass at a time

Discovering a new favourite appellation in the Centre-Loire

April 14, 2025 / / 0 Comments

My love for Loire Valley sauvignon blanc is no secret. To the point where I took time during my vacation last year to help harvest it. I am a dedicated fan. So when I have an opportunity to learn about much-loved appellations like Sancerre from the Centre-Loire, it doesn’t take much to convince me.

About a month ago, I received an invitation to attend a masterclass and walkaround tasting in Montréal, featuring the wines of the Centre-Loire. I hemmed and hawed about it for a while, since that is now a three-hour drive away after my move last year. But in the end, the idea of tasting a wide range of wines from a region I love won me over.

So on April 1, armed with podcasts and a playlist entitled Songs to Sing in the Car, off I went on a road trip to Montréal.

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Sunset over Chinon

All About Chinon

March 31, 2025 / / 2 Comments

Each time I visit a French wine region, I am astounded by the complexities of each appellation. For example, when I visited the Beaujolais in 2019, I discovered that within the region there are dozens of different appellations making red wine, each characterized by different grape growing elevations, yields, soil type, aging times, barrel types, and a myriad of other environmental and winemaking factors. The resulting wines are all so incredibly different, even though Beaujolais red wines are always, without fail, made from THE EXACT SAME GRAPE (gamay noir à jus blanc). It blows my mind how a single varietal can produce so many diverse wines.

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Biking through Chinon in the Loire Valley

Catching Up: 2023-2024

October 8, 2024 / / 0 Comments

As some may have noticed, it’s been pretty quiet on this Wining with Mel website.

Fear not! I haven’t abandoned my wining. But new posts are now being published over on Substack.

Unfortunately it makes it look like it’s been radio silence here.

So I thought I’d take the opportunity to catch you up on what’s been going on! Here are my latest posts, in reverse chronological order:

Harvest Season 2024 by Wining with Mel

Picking grapes on both sides of the ocean

Read on Substack

It’s Wine Event Season! by Wining with Mel

Get your tasting pants on

Read on Substack

Highly quaffable French whites under $17 to get you salivating by Wining with Mel

Delish white wines from France that are easy on the wallet!

Read on Substack

A Beginner’s Guide to Harvesting Grapes by Wining with Mel

Read on Substack

The Summer of Rosé is coming to an end… by Wining with Mel

But you can keep it going with this Savvy sale!

Read on Substack

Wining with Mel’s first time ever in Niagara!

October 31, 2022 / / 4 Comments

If there’s one thing that most people don’t know about me, it’s that besides a middle-school trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake to see a play at the Shaw Festival, I have never been to Niagara.

Shocking, I know.

What self-respecting Canadian wine writer has never visited the nation’s largest viticultural region??

With a milestone birthday coming up, it was time to remedy this travesty. I started dropping hints months ago about going to Niagara for the big event. So when my husband told me to pack a bag for a surprise birthday trip last weekend, I had my suspicions about where we were going.

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Baumann-Zirgel Crémant d’Alsace – Your New Champagne Alternative #winophiles

June 17, 2022 / / 1 Comment

This month the French Winophiles are delving into the sparkling world of Crémant d’Alsace, and I will be focusing in particular on two excellent examples from Domaine Baumann-Zirgel.

Last year I had the pleasure of tasting a myriad of samples from Alsace, thanks to the Alsace Digitasting. And while it totally rekindled my love for riesling, I was disappointed that due to sample bottling constraints, we weren’t able to try any Crémant d’Alsace, the famed traditional-method sparkling wine from the region. So I was thrilled when the Winophiles chose Crémant for this month’s topic, as it gave me a chance to make up for lost bubbly!

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