Tanisha's Talking...to Lionel Boillot of We Wine!

I was first approached by Lionel Boillot on LinkedIn. He asked me was I interested in learning about a new wine concept. Of course I’m interested! We messaged back and forth and agreed on a time to have a recorded conversation where I could share his story and his new technique as it relates to winemaking. What follows is an interesting conversation about working in other countries and languages, doing old things in new ways, and believing in yourself. Here is Lionel Boillot of We Wine and Vignobles Mayard.


To learn more about him and his wines, you can visit his website at www.we-wine.fr, on IG at wewine.ig and wewine.fb

Are there any other topics you’d like to know more about or people you’d want to hear from? Let me know, i’d love to hear from you. You can find me all over the internet and socials at Girl Meets Glass. Cheers!



Tanisha's Talking to...Away from the Motherland podcast

I had the pleasure of connecting with Georgina from Away from the Motherland podcast. Our conversation was fun and engaging and she asked really great questions, we absolutely could’ve talked for hours. I’m looking forward to when we’re back outside and restaurants/bars are open because I’m definitely going out to grab a drink with Georgina! Take a listen to the podcast here:

Away from the Motherland: From Chicago to Paris

In this episode I speak with Tanisha Townsend the Chief Wine Officer and founder of Girl Meets Glass, a wine lifestyle and education agency based in Paris.

Originally from the US, Tanisha creates wine and food pairing experiences for expats and tourists alike. She is the host of one of my favourite podcasts “Wine School Dropout” and teaches wine courses at universities in Paris.

We speak about her childhood, what sparked the move to the French capital, business in France, anecdotes and of course..... wine.

Head over to Tanisha's podcast - Wine School Dropout to get wine educated or connect with her via social media @girlmeetsglass

The 8 Best Wines from Black-Owned Wineries

New Year, new writing gig!! This year I’ve started working withe The Spruce Eats as a freelance writer. YAY! I’m super excited to be writing some lists for their ‘Best of’ categories relating to drinks. You know I’m only going to recommend the good stuff! Here is a snippet and link to my first article. I’ll post the links to the others as they are posted. If you have any lists you’d like to see or hear about, let me know! I can write them or do this on YouTube as well. Enjoy!

The 8 Best Wines from Black-Owned Wineries in 2021

As we start to look beyond the labels and look at what goes into our wines and who is producing our wines, we can’t help but notice the disparity of Black-owned wineries and Black winemakers. Black-owned wineries currently make up just about a tenth of 1 percent of the entire industry. Perhaps it's because Blacks didn’t grow up around wine, or have a culture of winemaking. I was well into my adult years before I started drinking wine, and even later learning more about it and developing my palate. "African-American winemakers are a certified minority," says Phil Long, owner of Longevity Wines. "You can count them on one hand."

The Black Lives Matter movement shone a light on various industries that had minimal representation of Blacks. The wine industry was no exception. But the tide quickly turned into highlighting those in the industry, the ones making, selling, and teaching wines to the masses.

Show your support by stocking your wine fridge and wine racks with these best wines from Black-owned wineries.

The Girl Meets Glass Holiday Guide is here!!

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I don’t always do a holiday guide so I can’t say annual guide or anything like that but, this year since I’ve been at home A LOT, there are a few products that I really like that I want to share. As I have to open wine for work purposes (or just because that’s the kind of day I had) I opened quite a few bottles to sample taste, but couldn’t finish them. You don’t know how much it broke my heart to have to pour the wine down the drain. Some I did keep for cooking purposes but, yeah, a lot was discarded.

I don’t want this to happen to you! Soooo, there are a few options on this list to make your wine last longer. Then some books that I’m excited about. And other things. Well, I’ll just stop talking about it and let you take a look…

The GMG Holiday Guide is available here -> https://www.ko-fi.com/s/4b13a9aae9

Enjoy! And let me know what you think? Anything you’d like to see added?

Fromagerie vs Supermarket - Where Do You Buy Your Cheese??

People have shamed me in the past for buying supermarket cheese, but I never understood the big deal. It's all French, right? That's what I thought! Ohhhh no! There is sooo much more to French cheese and how the cheese is produced and where the supermarket gets it from vs where the fromagerie gets its cheese. I wanted to understand French cheese and the differences between the cheese at the fromagerie vs the supermarket, so I asked my friend Fabrice, Le Cheese Geek for help. He gives us the lowdown on French cheese and take a look, we can see the difference!

Now you decide, where will you buy your French cheese - the supermarket or the fromagerie??



For more information on cheese and to signup for cheese courses online:

Fabrice - Le Cheese Geek

31 Rue Sainte-Marthe, 75010 Paris

www.lecheesegeek.fr

http://instagram.com/lecheesegeek

Tanisha’s Talking .... to Benjamin of Chateau Jouvente

Have you ever wondered about the wine harvest? How they know when it's time to pick the grapes, what was the previous season like, what they're even doing out there in the vineyard... Tanisha speaks with Benjamin Gutman from Chateau Jouvente in Bordeaux! He walks us around his vineyard and gives us the scoop on winemaking and grape growing in the first part of this harvest conversation series.

If you have any questions about Bordeaux, grapes, regions, harvest, let me know in the comments!

Four Black Sommeliers Share Their Perfect Pour

Featured on The Coveteur

By: Kristin Braswell

If you’ve ever enjoyed a wine tasting or experienced the perfect pairing with your food, you can thank the expertise of a sommelier for providing that memorable pour. Around the world, those who are enlisted to select and share knowledge on wine is limited to a select few. If you’ve suddenly envisioned a white male presenting a bottle, taking the glass for a swirl before that first sniff, that’s because this image is very much the face of the sommelier and wine industry.

Please find Ms. Braswell’s full article here -> https://coveteur.com/2020/07/31/black-sommeliers-wine/

The Paris Wine Cup Results Are In!

For as long as most people can remember the wine industry focus has been on France. Government bodies, regional promotion organisations, winemaking and wineries, but seldom has the focus been on the consumer. The Paris Wine Cup puts the focus firmly on the consumer and what they think really matters when considering a bottle of wine.

We have them right here, the results of the first ever PARIS WINE CUP!

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No 1 Spot - 96 Points winning a Double Gold and wine of the year award.

 Wine Of The Year: 2017 Gran Appasso Rosso Passito IGP


The Other Winners

  • Winery Of The Year: FEMAR VINI SRL

  • Best Wine by Quality: 2016 Monopole Mother Vine Shiraz

  • Best Wine By Value: 2017 Gran Appasso Rosso Passito IGP

  • Best Wine By Package: 2011 L'ODE À LA JOIE - Champagne Pointillart Leroy

Click here to see the full results

There were 22 gold winners that scored above 90 points and 1 double gold winner in the first edition of Paris Wine Cup. Wines from all over the world entered with Italy, France, Australia, Germany and the United States stealing the show.

The Paris Wine Cup recognizes, rewards, and promotes wine brands that are focused on a specific drinker. Their judges follow strict protocols for quality, value for money, and presentation for each entry.

To win a Paris Wine Cup award you will need to score highly in all three areas of our judging criteria. You might have an outstanding quality wine, but if the price and packaging are not right, you will not be recognized by the Paris Wine Cup.

There is no point, for example, in having a 95 point wine if it does not look good or offer consumers great value for money. Those points mean it will remain highly respected within the trade, but it will also remain largely unsold on the shelf or languishing on a restaurant’s wine list.

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Scoring system

The Paris Wine Cup was decided based on the following judging formula:

Q (Quality Score) + Value Score (V) + Package Score (P) = Paris Wine Cup Score.

A separate weighted score was given for each of the three parts of the judging process. The scores were then added up to give a final score and the ndividual prizes were awarded from there.

Double Gold: score of 96 and above

Gold: score between 95-90.

Silver: score between 89-76.

Bronze: score between 75-65.

More wine awards, why?

The Paris Wine Cup wants to recognize, reward and promote wine brands that have successfully been created to identify with and target a specific wine drinker. For any wine brand to earn its place on a retailer’s shelf or a restaurant’s wine list (and really stay there) they need to be marketable and consumer driven and not just produced in the general hope it can find enough people willing to sell and buy it.

That’s the cool thing about Paris Wine Cup, it’s different. It singles out and shines a spotlight on the wine brands that consumers really want to buy and also creates a clear market value for buyers in the trade.

JANCIS ROBINSON QUOTED ME!!

YES I am screaming because I am excited!! It is not everyday that one of the most noted individuals in the wine world quotes you in an article and uses quite the flattering photo of me ;-)

So much is happening in the world right now, protests, riots…the idea of racism is really sinking in with some people. Yes, it has been happening and black people have been discriminated against!! In the US and in France as well. I can’t hide the color of my skin on any continent. BUT, the tides are turning now and what I’ve always known is that if given a chance, an equal opportunity, black people will far exceed expectations EVERY TIME! I’m saying all of this to say that Jancis Robinson MW quoted me as a black wine professional in her article. I am still over the moon about it! Read it below and let me know what you think!

The Many Hues of Wine Talent

“‘We are changing the way people talk about wine – moving away from words like “unctuous” to telling the stories behind wines.’”
— Tanisha Townsend, Girl Meets Glass (ME!)