When I was creating the Cookery Courses in La Rochelle, I knew I wanted to include an activity about one of France’s greatest exports, wine! That’s when I found out about Cyrille Mathieu, one of the region’s top experts!
We are so pleased to have Cyrille on board teaching our guests about the delights of wine tasting. I caught up with him earlier to ask him a few questions about his favourite topic.
1) How did you learn so much about wine?
I worked in a wine school for 10 years in the Champagne region and I created a wine tasting club with my students.
2) What are the steps for tasting wine?
There are three steps in wine tasting. Look, smell and taste. The visual examination of the wine is the first step to obtain general information. The olfactory analysis is the second crucial step in wine tasting. The last step is the taste. This can confirm or deny what we have seen the first two steps.
3) What are the main things you try to teach during your wine tasting demonstrations?
I try to allow people to discover the wine tasting world and to understand the importance of our sense of smell that we do not often use in daily life. But the most important thing is to enjoy the wine tasting.
4) What makes the Poitou Charentes wine different from other regions?
Today there are 800 hectares of wines (in 1865 there were 30,000 hectares!) and wine producers cite the fact that the “terroir” or land is not as dry as the Aquitaine and more sunny than the neighbouring Touraine, creating excellent white wines but also very good reds.
5) What is your favourite wine?
My favorite wines are French wines which come from the Vallée du Rhône, especially the wines made with a grape variety like Syrah.
Thanks Cyrille, we look forward to your next wine tasting demonstration and hopefully I’ll be able to pass the aroma bottle test this time! For more information, please visit the Vinième Sens.
Santé!
