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Wine with Ekta 🍷Wine Writer | WSET, Ontario
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I came to cheese through wine. France’s modern appellation system did too.INAO traces the development of that system to ...
18/08/2026

I came to cheese through wine. France’s modern appellation system did too.

INAO traces the development of that system to the wine crises of 1905–1935: phylloxera, fraud and a much bigger question about what a place name should actually guarantee.

In 1925, Roquefort became France’s first cheese appellation of origin. Wine appellations already existed by then, but the formal AOC system had not yet been created.

And that intersection of wine, cheese and place is exactly where I wanted to begin.

🇫🇷 WINE COURTIER · ISSUE 1: FRANCE THROUGH CHEESE
Part 1/7 · Normandy + Loire Valley

Wine had taken me to France many times; cheese gave me another way in.

We spend so much time talking about what’s next in food and wine. With this series, I wanted to look back at some of what has shaped our tables, and perhaps introduce you to a cheese, bottle or story that wasn’t there before.

📍 Normandy

Normandy has four cheese AOPs: Camembert de Normandie, Pont-l’Évêque, Livarot and Neufchâtel.

Camembert de Normandie is particularly worth reading the label for. Raw milk and ladle-moulding are part of the AOP rules, so a generic camembert simply made in Normandy is not the same protected cheese.

And with Normandy’s soft cheeses? I often reach for cider before wine. Its acidity and gentle effervescence are a wonderful counterpoint to a ripe, creamy rind.

Then the landscape changes.

📍 Loire Valley

This is extraordinary goat-cheese country: Sainte-Maure de Touraine, Valençay, Selles-sur-Cher and Crottin de Chavignol.

Sauvignon Blanc feels almost inevitable here, its freshness working beautifully with the lactic tang of chèvre. Chavignol sits in the Sancerrois, and Sancerre’s vineyards include Chavignol itself, making “local” unusually literal.

And then there was something I noticed in two Loire bottles I’d already opened.

Both carried the word silex, French for flint:

🍷 Bernard Fouquet Vouvray Cuvée de Silex 2021 sec
🍷 Domaine Chatelain Pouilly-Fumé Les Chailloux Silex 2023

Two appellations. Two grapes, Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc. One word.

But silex on a label doesn’t mean we are literally tasting rock. “Flinty” and “mineral” are sensory descriptions, not proof that the rock itself has somehow travelled into the glass.

Exactly the sort of rabbit hole I hope France Through Cheese takes us down.

Normandy or Loire, which side of the board would you reach for first?

And if you know someone who spends far too long at the cheese counter, feel free to send this their way.

Sources: INAO · CNIEL · Ministère de l’Agriculture.
The shaded areas in this series are editorial guides for navigation, not French administrative regions or legal AOP production zones.

12/08/2026

Headphones on. 🎧

I think I owe Prosecco a small apology.

Spend enough time studying wine and it becomes very easy to get serious about what belongs in the glass. And I’ve caught myself doing that with Prosecco too.

Too simple. Too commercial. Too ubiquitous.

Meanwhile, Prosecco seems to have put its headphones on and carried on.

In 2025, Prosecco DOC alone bottled 667 million bottles, up 1.1% from the previous year.

And while we’re busy calling it unserious, the Prosecco DOC Consortium spent last year fighting people putting the name Prosecco on cosmetics, candles and mobile bars.

115 warnings. 57 enforcement actions against 115 imitation brands. 438 irregular marketplace offers removed.

The word the Consortium uses for what it’s fighting is trivialization, which is more or less what some of us do at tastings without being asked.

Prosecco isn’t one homogeneous thing either.

The bottle wearing my headphones today is Masottina ContradaGranda Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG Extra Dry, from the historic hills of Conegliano Valdobbiadene. It’s a much more geographically specific expression than the broader Prosecco DOC denomination behind that enormous 2025 bottling figure.

And then there’s Extra Dry. Wine terminology being wine terminology, Extra Dry is actually sweeter than Brut.

Because apparently Prosecco enjoys confusing us too.

Two years ago, I wrote a Prosecco appreciation post about Glera, the Martinotti method, DOCG and Cartizze.

This year, apparently I’m the one who needed the reminder.

Popularity doesn’t automatically tell us that a wine is great. But perhaps it shouldn’t automatically make us take a wine less seriously either.

Sometimes people simply want something fresh and pleasurable in their glass.

Not everyone is looking for lees.

Prosecco appears to know its audience rather well.

The wine world can have its opinions.
Prosecco has its headphones on. 🎧

National Prosecco Day is tomorrow, August 13, so consider this an early toast. 🥂

Where does Prosecco fit into your life? Aperitivo, a Spritz, celebrations, vacation, Tuesday-night bubbles?

Getting on the “kinda chic to…” trend because, well, it’s kinda chic to 😉A backyard fire that counts as camping. Pinot N...
06/08/2026

Getting on the “kinda chic to…” trend because, well, it’s kinda chic to 😉

A backyard fire that counts as camping. Pinot Noir at home that counts as an occasion. Extra truffle, every single time.

A little wine, cheese, family, friendship and the everyday details that make life feel special.

Mine? Fussing over the details because that’s how I care.

Now it’s your turn: kinda chic to…
Finish the sentence below 👇

Happy almost weekend 💜🥂

In 1980, two things began in Nova Scotia. One of them was wine.That year, Grand Pré produced the province’s first commer...
03/08/2026

In 1980, two things began in Nova Scotia. One of them was wine.

That year, Grand Pré produced the province’s first commercial vintage from Nova Scotia-grown grapes. In Upper Economy, Willem and Maja van den Hoek started That Dutchman’s Cheese Farm.

Same year, same province, two crafts that helped shape how Nova Scotia tastes.

Forty-six years later, that coincidence feels especially fitting for my Canada Through Wine & Cheese series.

The geography connects the story. Blomidon Estate Winery sits near Canning on the Minas Basin. Lightfoot & Wolfville farms in the Annapolis Valley within the same Bay of Fundy tidal system. Those waters matter. Cooling breezes slow ripening and help grapes retain acidity, part of why traditional-method sparkling has become one of Nova Scotia’s clearest strengths.

I’m comparing two very different expressions:

🍾 Lightfoot & Wolfville Brut Blanc de Blancs 2019
Vintage traditional-method sparkling, 100% Chardonnay, Annapolis Valley, with 46 months on lees.

🍾 Blomidon Estate Winery NV Cuvée L’Acadie
Non-vintage traditional method, 100% estate-grown L’Acadie Blanc, with 16 months in tirage and 10.2 g/L total acidity.

I first tasted the Cuvée L’Acadie at i4C in July and genuinely enjoyed it, so revisiting it for this comparison felt right.

L’Acadie Blanc adds another distinctly Canadian layer. Bred in Ontario in 1953, it was later named and commercialised in Nova Scotia and is now closely associated with the province’s modern wine industry.

For the cheese pairing, I would start with an aged Gouda beside the Chardonnay. Dragon’s Breath Blue with the L’Acadie would be the more adventurous match.

The climate story is not simply one of opportunity. In February 2023, after a mild winter, temperatures in the Annapolis Valley fell to −25°C and major bud loss was reported in vinifera plantings. A warmer average does not necessarily mean an easier growing season. Every vintage still carries risk.

I’ll retaste both before sharing my full tasting notes.

Happy Natal Day to everyone celebrating in Nova Scotia. 🇨🇦🥂

Which would you pour first: vintage Chardonnay or estate-grown L’Acadie Blanc?

Last month, I mapped Canada’s cheese from coast to coast. Now, in part 2 the series hits the road.We travel hours for wi...
22/07/2026

Last month, I mapped Canada’s cheese from coast to coast. Now, in part 2 the series hits the road.

We travel hours for wine. We cross borders for a bottle. We seek out vineyards, meet winemakers and bring home wines that carry a sense of place. Yet, despite Canada’s rich dairy heritage and remarkable producers, cheese rarely receives the same attention.

At a time when more Canadians are looking closer to home and paying greater attention to the stories behind the products they buy, I found myself asking: why don’t we explore cheese in the same way?

That question led me to Oxford County, the birthplace of Canada’s commercial cheese industry and home to a year-round Cheese Trail with more than 30 stops. This June, the Great Canadian Cheese Festival brought together cheesemakers, dairy producers and cheese lovers in Peterborough, celebrating a tradition that deserves far more recognition.

The farms, makers, festivals and regional traditions are already here.

What is often missing is the connection: the stories that tie cheese to place, people and travel in the same way wine already does.

Canada Through Cheese is not a claim that Canada has formal cheese appellations comparable to those of Europe. Instead, it is an invitation to discover Canadian cheese through farm, milk, breed, season, maker and maturation, and to see it as a reason to explore somewhere new.

Through Wine Courtier, I have long been passionate about creating experiences around wine, cheese and hospitality. This new series is my way of taking those conversations beyond the tasting table and onto the road, exploring the people, places and traditions that shape Canada’s cheese culture.

I believe Canadian cheese has a story that deserves to be told.

Which Canadian cheesemaker, affineur or dairy producer should Canada Through Cheese visit next? I’d love your recommendations.

08/07/2026

Two Pinot Noirs. A short drive apart. And yet they barely recognise each other.

That’s Burgundy.

One still speaks in bright cherries, fresh flowers and youthful energy. The other has thirteen more years behind it, trading fruit for earth, undergrowth and a quieter, savoury complexity.

People often ask whether Burgundy is really that different from village to village. Sometimes you don’t even need to leave the Côte de Beaune to find the answer.

The timing feels appropriate. Michelin has just put Burgundy back in the spotlight with its inaugural MICHELIN Guide Wine Selection, celebrating producers whose work stands the test of time.

But this is the other side of Burgundy.

No guide, classification or distinction can fully predict what happens when place, vintage and patience begin telling their own story.

That’s why I never get tired of opening Burgundy. It has a way of proving you don’t know it as well as you thought.

What wine region has made you realise you knew less than you thought?

A little wine note: the older bottle says Vieilles Vignes. In France, the term has no national legal definition and no minimum vine age. It comes down to the producer’s own use of it.

Would you like to see that standardised, or is the trust part of the charm?

03/07/2026

☀️ When the temperature rises, your cheese shouldn’t be the one sweating. 🧀

Most cheeseboard advice ignores one thing: the weather.

When the temperature rises, it’s usually not the cheese that’s the problem—it’s how we serve it.

On this board, for example, I’d happily leave the Provolone out to come to serving temperature. It develops more aroma and flavour as it warms. The Taleggio, on the other hand, comes out in smaller batches. Its soft, high-moisture paste warms much more quickly, so I replenish it as guests graze.

A few simple changes can make a big difference when you’re entertaining:

🍽️ Serve in small batches. Refill the board as guests graze instead of putting every piece of cheese out at once.

❄️ Keep soft cheeses chilled until you need them. Brie, Camembert, Taleggio, fresh chèvre and Burrata warm up much faster than firm, aged cheeses because of their higher moisture content.

🧀 Let firm cheeses come to serving temperature. Provolone, Comté, aged Cheddar and Parmigiano Reggiano reveal more aroma and flavour once they’re no longer fridge-cold.

🪨 Chill your marble or slate board for 30–60 minutes before serving. It helps slow down warming, especially outdoors.

🍇 Freeze a handful of grapes for about an hour before guests arrive. They’re a refreshing snack as they thaw and can add a little extra chill to the board.

🌳 Choose a shaded spot for your cheeseboard. Just a few minutes of direct sunlight can noticeably soften fresh and soft-ripened cheeses.

🔥 Keep the board away from the barbecue. Even in the shade, radiant heat from the grill can warm cheese surprisingly quickly.

And whatever the season:

🔪 Use a separate knife for blue cheese so its distinctive mould and flavour don’t transfer to milder cheeses.

⭐ Choose quality over quantity. Three thoughtfully selected cheeses with different milk types or textures will almost always create a more memorable board than eight random ones.

A little planning means every guest gets to enjoy the cheeseboard at its best—not just the first one.

What’s the first cheese your family or friends always reach for when you put out a cheeseboard?

I’d love to hear your favourites!

📍Sharing practical wine, cheese and entertaining tips from Oakville, Ontario.

25/06/2026

Happy National Goat Cheese Day to all my fellow chèvre lovers!
Everyone thinks the grey coating on this cheese is decoration. It isn't.

At our latest tasting with The Splendid Olive, we poured Isabelle & Pierre Clément's Menetou-Salon Classique 2024, Sancerre's quieter neighbour, made from the same Sauvignon Blanc and grown on similar Kimmeridgian soils, alongside Grey Owl, the ash-coated goat cheese from Fromagerie Le Détour in Notre-Dame-du-Lac, Québec.

That dark rind is edible vegetable ash. It's not for looks: ash has long been used on goat cheese to set up the surface so the rind develops and the paste ripens evenly from the outside in. It's a technique long used in the Loire's classic chèvres, including Sainte-Maure and Selles-sur-Cher, and Grey Owl carries that tradition to Canada.

At the table, the pairing simply works. The wine's bright acidity cuts through the cheese's creaminess, while the ash-coated rind adds savoury complexity. Honey rounds the tang, while roasted almonds pull a nutty note out of the wine.

Be honest: have you actually tried Menetou-Salon, or is it always Sancerre? 👇

Save this for your next board, and send it to the friend who always reaches for Sancerre.

Happy Friday 🥂Be honest... we've all posted at least one of these.Which one are you most guilty of?And what belongs on V...
19/06/2026

Happy Friday 🥂
Be honest... we've all posted at least one of these.
Which one are you most guilty of?
And what belongs on Version 2.0?
Pour something good this weekend. You've earned it.💜

What grows together DOES'NT always go together.Some of the world's greatest wine-and-cheese pairings are what I callLONG...
17/06/2026

What grows together DOES'NT always go together.

Some of the world's greatest wine-and-cheese pairings are what I call
LONG-DISTANCE relationships 😉

Roquefort and Sauternes aren't neighbours.
Stilton and Port aren't either.

They work because of flavour chemistry, not geography.

So I tested that idea across an ocean:
🇫🇷Château de Navailles Jurançon 2018 from Southwest France with
🇨🇦Bleu Bénédictin , the cow's-milk blue from the Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac in Quebec, where Benedictine monks have made cheese since 1943.

🧀Rich, creamy and savoury with woodland-mushroom notes and a delicate salinity, it is one of Quebec's standout monastery cheeses and has earned numerous awards over the years.

🤝Why it works: the wine's honeyed sweetness softens the cheese's salt, while its bright acidity refreshes the creamy richness, keeping the pairing balanced rather than heavy.

🥂The wine's secret is the grape. Petit Manseng can be left to concentrate on the vine late into the season, building flavour and sugar.
Yet it retains remarkable natural acidity, which is why sweet Jurançon can remain vibrant and fresh even after years in bottle.

One rule worth stealing: many blue cheeses can make tannic red wines seem bitter or metallic. Instead, reach for wines with sweetness and acidity. Jurançon, Sauternes, Tokaji or our own Canadian Icewine.

Great pairings cross borders.

And Canadian cheese has earned its place on the world's best boards. 🇨🇦

📌Save this for your next cheese board.
What's a wine-and-cheese pairing that completely surprised you?

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