Wining with Mel

Discover your wine style, one glass at a time

Category: Wine tasting (Page 1 of 9)

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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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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White and red bottle of Chapoutier Belleruche

The Wonderful World of Chapoutier in Côtes du Rhône

September 16, 2021 / / 8 Comments

I never turn down a chance to drink/taste/write about wines from the Côtes du Rhône. They are some of the most gorgeous, easy-drinking wines from France. So when I found out the French Winophiles were discussing this beautiful wine region in the South of France this month, I knew I had to participate. While some of my fellow Winophiles received samples, I went to the LCBO to grab a couple of my go-to (i.e. affordable!) Côtes du Rhône wines from well-known producer M. Chapoutier.

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