Uncorked: Christy Canterbury MW

Currently busy in Bordeaux, ploughing through the 2014 primeurs, Christy Canterbury MW is a wine writer, speaker, judge and educator. According to her website she: ‘lives between Manhattan and the vineyards of the world. Primarily those of Europe.’

Photo credit: Michael Seto

What Vintage are you? 

A lady never tells her vintage.

What bottle sparked your love of wine?

It’s not so clear which did but rather which didn’t…and which I overcame. My first glass of wine was a bitterly dry rosé from a Provençal co-op when I was studying in Boulouris, between St. Raphaël and St. Tropez one summer in university. I couldn’t understand why anyone would willingly ingest such a vile substance.

Ambition or talent – what matters more?

Ambition. And talent is often wasted without ambition.

What would you be as a wine?

It’s a toss-up between Musigny and Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru Les Amoureuses

Where are you happiest?

Pretty much anywhere, but if I were to choose a wine region, it would be Burgundy.

What’s your greatest vice?

Good cheese. With a glass of white wine, please.

Best advice you ever got?

Every day is the first day of the rest of your life.

Your cellar’s underwater, which bottle would you dive in and save?

Champagne – Pierre Peters, José Dhont, Bereche. Let’s be honest, it would have to be whatever is closest to the surface.

What’s the best & worst thing about the wine business?

Best: The people – warmth, smarts, open-mindedness

Worst: Too much good food & wine at times.

Personal satisfaction (Parker points – out of 100)

For my work in the wine business: 98

Desert island vine?

Pinot Noir – it can make white, rosé, red and bubbly!

Which wine would you like served at your funeral?

Adhémar Boudin’s L’Homme Mort from Chablis, relabelled as La Femme Morte