My Article: More Time in A Great Wine, Food Town

(MONTREAL) I met some of the top wine writers in the province of Québec here today, and they were a great group of people. It reminded me of being back in London or Paris in the 1980s when a great group of wine scribes would get together and taste and compare thoughts about wine. I miss those days.

We tasted a range of wines that I rated from a tasting with the Société des Alcools du Québec in Montréal, the state-run wine and spirits distribution company (it has about 400 stores throughout the province). These were wines that I tasted about two months ago in a blind tasting in the SAQ offices. I am duplicating my retail tastings in New York, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong in Montreal – but on a larger scale.

I think my French Canadian colleagues were interested in my palate, and I had the feeling they were slightly surprised I didn’t go for super fruit-forward wines, or “fruit bombs” as some called it. Don’t get me wrong – I love bright fruit, but it has to be balanced with structure and acidity. A wine should be made to be drunk with food; that’s fundamental.

SAQ has an excellent selection of value wines in its nearly 8,000 labels listed under the “specialty selection.” I want to do tastings focusing on these wines, many of which are available around the world. Why taste wines that nobody seems to be able to find, buy, or drink? I spent too much of my time in my life as a wine critic doing this.

Anyway, I continue to be impressed with Montreal. It must be one of the best wine and food cities in the world, and may be the No. 2 city in North America for wine and food, following New York City.