Oenologist The People of Wine

The French Wine Society, worldwide leader in French wine study and certification programs celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2015.

This DC-based organization has been quietly revolutionizing the world of wine study since its inception in 2005. It was the first to bring extensive and interactive distance learning to the wine industry, the first to create wine immersion study trips in France as an adjunct to master-level certificate programs and the first to add continuing education webinars as a member benefit.
The organization filled a gap. There was no in-depth wine education on France available globally despite France’s leading and inspiring role in the world of wine. Within a decade, the French Wine Society has established a program provider network within ten countries on five continents and an unparalleled panel of instructors for its distance learning programs and French immersion trips.
Members and/or course participants learn from journalists, authors, regional experts, producers, Masters … [Full Article]

By. Jiles Halling
Making wine has, literally, been a part of the landscape in Champagne for hundreds of years and these days it’s not unusual to meet wine makers whose family history goes back many generations, but even in this impressive company the history of Champagne Lionel  Carreau is way out of the ordinary.
The Carreau family has been associated with wine since 1543 when a distant ancestor was winemaker at the Abbey of Mores in the small community of Celles-sur-Ources and you’ll find Champagne Lionel Carreau in the same village to this very day. The brand itself was created much later, but the family’s savoir-faire has been handed down from father to son, and now to daughter, for many generations.
Of course there are lots of long-established, small grower champagnes in the Champagne region but it’s not just because of the history of the family that Champagne Lionel Carreau is … [Full Article]

They say that great things come from great adversity and that is certainly true for Erick de Sousa who, from modest beginnings in the Côte des Blancs area of Champagne, is well on his way to building a global reputation for Champagne De Sousa.
It was Erick’s grandfather, Manuel a native of the Portuguese town of Porto, who first visited France to fight in the First Word War. Soon after the war he came back to Champagne to find work – there was plenty to rebuild in this corner of France that had been badly damaged during the fighting.
Manuel died at the age of just 29 leaving a widow and 4 sons. In due course the eldest son, Antoine, married a local girl, Zoémie Bonville, and learned the art of growing grapes. Again war intervened and Antoine spent 2 years as a prisoner in Germany. On returning home to the … [Full Article]