The month of love: A brief conversation II

It takes a special personality to reach out and offer assistance without causing insult. Steve and Annette did just that back in March of 2020. If not for their 9 am phone conference call on a Saturday morning encouraging me to buy Zoom Pro and teaching me how to use it to its full potential – none of this Good Wine Gal Thursday Wine sessions with Mark Shipway would have happened. This was followed on with Steve showing up to our red wine sessions and Annette attending our white wine sessions with both of them attending those early day “happy hour” calls where we sipped and talked our way through the first lockdown. Here is a little tribute to Steve and Annette for their continued support of Good Wine Gal and our online wine sessions. Thank you both for your generosity and kindness.

When did you fall in love?
We met and fell in love around 100 Mile House. At the time Annette didn't drink at all and I was a total beer guy.

Has wine play a role in your relationship?
For the next 10 years of our relationship, Annette mostly sipped Sambuca and I quaffed beer. When Annette turned 40 she started testing the wine waters. She discovered white wine, mainly New Zealand un-oaked Sauvignon Blanc and has enjoyed them ever since. I'm more-or-less a red wine guy. I like big, bold reds and have not developed an appreciation for whites at all.
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Have your visited wine country?
Ten years ago Annette flew out to Calgary to meet me on one of my business trips with the plan to drive back to Vancouver via Okanagan Valley. We stopped at a few wineries and really enjoyed the experience of in person wine tastings. Since then we have made time to travel for wine and do more wine tastings. We have visited many wine regions because of Annette's work schedule. Here are a few of the wine regions we have visited: Champagne (because Annette loves bubbles), Burgundy, Languedoc, the Loire Valley, Alsace, Rhone, Provence and Corsica, most of the wine regions in Germany, Italy including Sicily, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Croatia, Argentina and the USA. When we can travel again we are looking forward to tasting and touring in South Africa and Greece. I'm sure there is more.

And that is why we love these two. They are full of life, generous to a fault and love wine!

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