Toasting Les Dames

Photo: Mireille Sauvé,

Les Dames d’Escoffier is an international organization that. For 25 years, has celebrated and supported women working in the food and wine industry.

This fall, the very active Vancouver chapter has released two wines – a red and a white and both selling for $25 a bottle. The proceeds from the sale of these wines, which are in private wine stores and restaurants, will be used by Les Dames to support the education of women involved in the wine industry. The wine is also on www.dameswine.com. Some 6,240 bottles have been released.

The wines were made by Mireille Sauvé, a Vancouver wine marketer and sommelier. She was a previous scholarship recipient through the Les Dames d’Escoffier program. She credits that contribution for allowing her to complete her dream of becoming a sommelier – in fact Canada’s youngest female sommelier, graduating from George Brown College in 1997.

Mireille worked established women within the industry to source the grapes for the Dames Wine. Ann Sperling of Sperling Vineyards runs the vineyard where many of the grapes were sourced. Katie Holmes of Summerhill Winery and Janice Meyer Stevens from Meyer Family Vineyards also helped source fruit and worked with Mireille from the cellar to the bottling line. In her news releases, Mireille added that “these are just a few of the fine women involved in the project.”

The wines were made at the Meyer winery under a custom crush agreement.

Here are notes on the wines.

Dames White 2015 ($25 for 327 cases). This is 80% Pinot Blanc, 10% Riesling and 10% Gewurztraminer. The wine begins with a lively aroma of peach and pineapple. On the palate, its is bright and refreshing with flavours of lemon, lime and apple. The finish is tangy. 90.

Dames Red 2013 ($25 for 173 cases). This is 70% organic Merlot and 30% organic Syrah. It begins with aromas of cassis, cherry and blueberry which are echoed on the palate. Medium-bodied with soft tannins, it is a juicy and drinkable red. 88.