Introducing a French wine "Whisperer" + A visit to Bormes-les-Mimosas, Côte d'Azur

It’s wonderful to have you back here with me today! Bienvenue !

In this newsletter, you’ll meet a new Contributor to MyFrenchLife Magazine, and you’ll find her first article about delicious French bubbles. She is very well qualified to help us better understand Champagne… Learn new tricks and hacks!

Next, we’ll head south to visit one of the “Les Plus Beaux Villages de France”, the last of a four-part series of those villages most recently added to this brand.

Watch out for the PAID subscriber edition of le Bulletin this weekend: “15.11.a – How I live after moving to France: Brittany and a Small Southern Seaside Village” It’s not too late to subscribe←

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À bientôt !
Warmly,
Judy – 15.3.2025

Did you know there are many articles in MyFrenchLife Magazine where savvy francophiles love to immerse themselves and indulge in all things French beyond the cliché? You can join them…

Thank you to all the talented Contributors to MyFrenchLife magazine. I love that your articles take us from one end of France to another and constantly remind us of the rich culture of this wonderful and diverse country.
Merci.
Judy.

Bormes-les-Mimosas – a beautiful town with a beautiful name

Originally called “Bormes,” the city council added “-les-Mimosas” in 1968 as a nod to the 90+ varieties of mimosa plants found there—and in hopes of attracting more tourists.

Not just a village, Bormes-les-Mimosas is actually a small yet sprawling town of 8,361 inhabitants. The city limits cover 97.32 square kilometers, just a bit under Paris’s 105.4!…” writes Betty Carlson.

Read the entire article.←

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Image credit: Eric Malcolm

I have real pleasure in introducing Eveline Chartier, who has joined the team to help us understand and enjoy French wine.

Understanding and better enjoying French wine sits perfectly with the global community of MyFrenchLife as we discover, better understand, and experience France beyond the cliché!

Eveline introduces herself as follows:

Raised in a French-Canadian home, I found my passion for wine. After 20 years in energy engineering, I pursued that passion, earning my WSET Diploma in 2023 after studying in Austria & Italy. Now, I help others explore & enjoy wine more fully. You’ll find me here: https://www.shadesofgrape.ca/

I joke that I am a wine-whisperer, a “gift” allowing me to identify wines my customers love. As a wine consultant, I work for individuals or companies / groups (i.e. Cork Fine Wine, restaurants, special events, clubs etc.) by conducting wine tastings, curating wines, and offering training sessions.

Working at Cork I tell my customers: “The wine world allows us to travel the world except a little piece of the world actually comes to us,” she says in an interview with Heather Martin on Tumbleweed.

I’m now thrilled to introduce you to a new series by Eveline; each is a deep dive into a particular theme, and comprises three articles.

French bubbly wines have not always been as we know them today, but they are very much an appreciated part of what makes France, France. Read about how to enjoy sparkling wines as well as their different styles.

In my Beaujolais Blanc Chardonnay article I touched on sparkling wines. Now, let’s dive deeper into the practical aspects of these wines.

I don’t buy sparkling wine because once open I must finish it all.

In fact, this is not the case. You can keep a sparkling wine open for several days if you …

Rule # 1 – Respect the bubbles.

This is the mother of all sparkling wine rules because it all comes back to respecting the bubbles. Bubbles are what makes the wine a sparkling wine, afterall!

The trick is keeping the Carbon Dioxide (CO2) in solution.

Nerd.

The bubbles are a result of the CO2 produced during fermentation, which is done in a closed vessel (tank or bottle). Since the gas cannot escape, it becomes part of the wine. In other words, the CO2 gas is ‘in solution’. The solution being the wine.

THEY say drinking wine is not a solution.

Ha ha!

Rule #2 – Start with a very cold bottle

Open the bottle very cold – refrigerator cold, which is 4 to 5 degrees Celsius. Bubbles will stay in solution longer at lower temperatures.

So either cool the bottle in the refrigerator or in an ice bucket. The ice bucket should be about 50% ice and 50% water. The water helps conduct temperature better – so don’t leave that step out.” writes Eveline Chartier.

Read the entire article <-

You are finally doing it!

Finally writing about Champagne! […]

Yes, I was putting it off and writing about other sparklings as I do try to focus on value wines … and well … Champagne is not a value wine! But my hope is to give you an appreciation of why it is a special wine!

Champagne. It is an acquired taste. Not everyone likes it. Here, we will explore different Champagne styles. My wish is to help you find a style that is right for you should you care to explore!

Let’s start with its history and origins.

The Champagne region, 145 km northeast of Paris, is the first region to make sparkling wine in any quantity. As the wine world has grown, Champagne is now responsible for only about 8% of total global sparkling wine production. However, Champagne is the model that many sparkling regions globally aim to emulate, often with the same grapes.

Interestingly, the Champagne region’s wines were not initially bubbly…” writes Eveline Chartier

Read the entire article <-

From past posts, a lot of you know my strong opinion on Prosecco. 😊

You also know that I respect that you are you, and I encourage you to do you! (if you don’t know, check here)

But today I extend an olive branch to the Prosecco camp as a bridge … rather than a sign of peace, as this is not a war of the sparklings, but an exploration of the palates!

I am hoping that we can test things a little.

My theory is that people who like Prosecco…” writes Eveline Chartier.

Read the entire article <-

Are you a Champagne, Prosecco, or Cremant drinker? What is your preference? Please share in the comments.

Read the new series and entire article in MyFrenchLife Magazine←

Introducing a French wine “Whisperer” + A visit to Bormes-les-Mimosas, Côte d’Azur

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