The Meunier Institute Shines The Spotlight On Pinot Meunier

Fanny and I were having fun talking about the Institute's passion for Pinot Meunier.

Interesting things happen when people band together over a shared passion, especially when they’re on a mission to break tradition. In Champagne, the two year old Meunier Institute, created by a group of nine progressive winemakers, is trying to shake things up.  They are tirelessly promoting the Pinot Meunier grape which usually plays a supporting role to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in traditional Champagne blends. The members of the Institute believe that Meunier has what it takes to play the leading part.

Read more about this versatile grape at GrapeCollective.com where I interviewed one of the Institute's members, Fanny Heucq of Champagne Heucq Père et Fils. 

Pascal Jolivet

A few years ago, on a cold winter morning in Manhattan, a man walked into the wine shop l was working at and introduced himself as the producer of one of my favorite Loire Valley wines, Pascal Jolivet. It was great to finally put the face behind a bottle I had been selling (with pleasure!) for years. We got to chatting about wine and travel and life in general. l then mentioned to him that my colleague James, who had the day off that day, was soon getting married at a beautiful château in the Loire Valley to a French woman he had met while on vacation the year before. By the end of our conversation, Pascal had offered to send six magnums of his delicious white Sancerre as a wedding gift to James and his bride-to-be. Don’t you just love when serendipitous things like that happen?

l caught up with Pascal recently by email to talk about life (again!) and his natural approach to winemaking. Read the full article and interview at Grape Collective.   

Cheers!