By Gaby Israel Here’s my best cellar wines list for this release as a shopping list that you can print and will show you LCBO stock availability. Spain – Montsant – Celler Besllum Besllum 2008 (283515) – $15.95 My #1 “must try” wine of this 8/18 release. RP gave it 93 and its GPCi is “crazy” (1.45!) – can be cellared until 2023. I was looking for the meaning of the word Besllum and found two interesting definitions: 1 – Besllum is a Catalan word with no literal translation meaning ‘imperfect, uncertain understanding of something’ 2 – Besllum means “a […]
Month: August 2012
Video: Pairing Wine and Cheese: Cheddar, Gouda, Blue
For more than 10 years, Janice Beaton Fine Cheese has been known as Calgary’s best place to buy artisanal, fresh-cut cheeses from around the world. In the video chat below, owner Janice Beaton joins me today to talk about pairing wine and cheese. Why are many people as obsessive about cheese as they are about wine? What makes Canadian cheeses different from other regions? What are your best tips for tasting cheese? Pairing it with wine? Let’s pair the following wines and cheese to see how well they go together (or not). Mountain-Ash Goat Cheese from […]
Pairing Wine and Dark Chocolate Video Part 2
In the video below, Roxanne Browning and I continue our chat about pairing wine and chocolate, as well as the health benefits of wine. Get out a chunk of artisanal dark chocolate and a robust red wine and taste along with us! You can also watch part one of our wine and chocolate conversation. Roxanne leads a tasting of wine and chocolate: You may also enjoy these video chats: Pairing Wine and Cheese with Janice Beaton Dragon’s Den Arlene Dickinson talks about wine, women, business See all wine video chats here. Is there someone […]
Mer Soleil Chardonnay, Maculan Pinot Grigio, Wakefield Cabernet Sauvignon: Top LCBO Wines Vintages Release August 18
Here are my top picks from the August 18 Vintages Release. You can also get all 82 of my Best Value Wines and Top Rated Wines for red, white, rose, sparkling and dessert wines that encompass many price points, styles and regions. You can add my wine picks to your shopping list by clicking on the little shopping cart icon. You can also create a custom list just for this release that will be saved in your account. Print a text-only version of the reviews. 2010 Maculan Pinot Grigio, Veneto, Italy Vibrant and zesty pinot grigio that I […]
Video: Pairing Wine and Chocolate with a Chocolate Sommelier
In the video below, New York Chocolate Sommelier Roxanne Browning chat about the difference between great chocolate and candy, pairing it with wine, Fair Trade and serving tips. Roxanne’s life-long search for the “ultimate bar led her down to the Ecuadorian Amazon rain forest where she helped with the cacao harvest. Here’s part two of our wine and chocolate conversation. Masi Costasera Amarone Classico, Veneto, Italy A full-bodied and richly flavoured red with aromas of black cherry liqueur, cigar box and dark spices. Hedonistic and satisfying. Food matches: dark chocolate, hearty meat dishes. […]
Top 5 Wine and Book Pairings for Summer Reading
This is one of the pieces I wrote last month for my column on the Sympatico Lifestyle site … I’m savouring the books I plan to dive into this summer as much as the wines I’ll enjoy. Just for fun, I’ve paired some of this season’s bestsellers with this season’s best cellars. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) Let’s drink to the marriage of wine and words! Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James What better way to brighten a grey title than with a pink wine? Mas Des Bressades Rosé Cuvée Tradition from the Rhone Valley in France is […]
Spanish Wines Scoring 97 Points at Incredible Prices
By: Travis Oke Week one of my own version of Euro 2012. This one involves my family and I eating our way through Spain and France. We are in Malaga, an historic city on the Costa del Sol in Spain. What is silly about this country is the price of wine. At the local grocery store – Mercadona – my brother found a Comportillo Rioja Gran Reserva 2005 for 8 Euro. This vintage year is rated a 97 by a certain Robert Parker Jr – but the vintage has still not reached its maturity date. That didn’t really concern me. […]
Grilled Steak Recipe with Monterey Jack Cheese Rollups Paired with Rose or Red Wine
Enjoy eating outdoors with this great and easy recipe. Picnics have a reputation for being fun and festive events. The truth is that they often require a lot of work behind the scenes. You have to choose menu items that can keep for a long time, accommodate large groups and of course have lots of flavour. You then have to prepare the menu, as well as choose and bring along drinks that pair nicely with the food. And let’s not forget about all the other items, such as foldable chairs, coolers and sports equipment. So this week I’ve taken it […]
Pairing Wine and Dessert with a Sommelier and Wine Importer
Andrew von Teichman This interview was published in a recent edition of my column in Homefront Maagzine. Andrew von Teichman, Toronto sommelier, winemaker and wine importer, talks about wines to pair with summer desserts. You’re a sommelier by training, but now own a winery and wine agency. Why did you go into those fields? My father was a co-founder of Pelee Island Winery in southwestern Ontario, so I had a chance to work in the vineyards and cellar during high school summers. I wasn’t forced to do this; I just decided to apply for a job there one summer and […]
Decanter Magazine Review of Unquenchable
Peter Mayle is named by Natalie MacLean in the same sentence as Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges as one of her influences. I approached Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest for the World’s Best Bargain Bottles with caution, but MacLean is actually excellent company. Brought up in poverty, the last in a long line of alcoholics and a former competitive highland dancer, she rollicks around the world’s vineyards flirting with Wolf Blass, gaping at the slopes of the Mosel, chuckling with growers in Provence, reminding us every few pages of how much she likes to drink. There are useful gobbets of history […]
