A Toast to All Things French, Wine Education Seminar
Beth Ribblett
Well, maybe not to "all things" but certainly to their grape juice! France is responsible for setting many of the international standards for which wine is judged today; yet, reading a French wine label and finding regions/varieties that suit your palate can be intimidating. What is the Roussillon? What grapes can I expect to drink with a bottle of wine from St. Emillon or Chateauneuf du Pape? Does it matter if a bottle of Burgundy says Premier or Grand Cru, and what does the term "first growth" mean? Please join us once a week on Mondays at 6:00pm for six weeks as we "tour," taste and decode the major wine regions in France. Here's the line-up:
February 21: Rhone Valley
February 28: Bordeaux
March 7 (LUNDI GRAS): no seminar
March 21: The Midi
March 28: Burgundy
April 4: Alsace & Loire Valley
April 11: Champagne
Your tour guide will be Michelle Gueydan, who has a broad range of travel and career experience in food and wine, particularly in France, where she barrel tasted the acclaimed 2005 Bordeaux vintage, and even rode on the back of someone's motorbike to the acclaimed Domaine Pegau in Chateauneuf du Pape. For six years, Michelle traveled internationally with former employers, Joseph Robert of J.E. Robert Companies and acclaimed musician/composer Quincy Jones, planning and executing meetings, events, concerts and wine pairing dinners. Her Sommelier career highlights include five-star Relais &Chateau property, The Inn at Little Washington in Virginia , as well as her most recent stint as Wine Director for John Besh Restaurant Group in New Orleans. A native New Orleanian, Michelle returned home in 2009 and has re-instated her former Virginia-based LLC, VinoSolutions, in Louisiana to offer local retail and restaurant outlets a unique opportunity to hire a Sommelier as a “Consultant." Michelle continues to support the importance of education towards an end result: Louisiana as a destination not only for food and spirits, but also for WINE.
Each class is $30/person, or buy the entire series for $150. Sign up early, as space is limited to 20 people per class. Call 504.304.0635, reservations and prepayment are required to attend.