Fruitcake Recipe: Holiday Wine Match

A traditional United Kingdom dessert made from candied fruit, dried fruit, nuts and spices that is soaked in spirits. It is especially associated with Christmas and weddings. The earliest known recipes came from ancient Rome, and then soon spread throughout Europe. In the U.K., a round fruitcake is usually covered with marzipan (sugar and honey), and then a hard white icing made from beaten egg whites. Ingredients   Preparation   Please share your tips on preparing this recipe or another fruitcake recipe in the comments below. Return to the Joy to the World Holiday Wine Match.

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Roast Turkey Recipe: Holiday Wine Match

Roast turkey is the centerpiece of Canadian and American Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday tables. It’s associated with the Pilgrims who were introduced to it by Native North Americans. Side dishes often include cranberry sauce, bread stuffing, giblet gravy, oyster stew, sweet potatoes and creamed corn. Ingredients   Preparation   Please share your tips on preparing this recipe or another turkey recipe in the comments below. Return to the Joy to the World Holiday Wine Match.  

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National Post on Wine Writers + Competitions: Critiquing the Critics

National Post drinks columnist Adam McDowell penned an excellent, thought-provoking editorial in the weekend edition of the paper on wine critics and competitions entitled “Are wine critics fooling us into buying pricier bottles?” He opens with the classic Roald Dahl short story Taste, in which a stockbroker makes a bet with his wine snob dining companion, to correctly identify a wine in a blind taste test. (Dahl is also the author of the bestselling children’s novels Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach: clearly a man who loves food and drink, but mercifully doesn’t take it, […]

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Canada’s Best Wine with Cheese: Quails’ Gate Video

In this video, we chat with the Gold Medal Winners of Canada’s Best Wine with Cheese in The Great Canadian Wine Match. Winemaker Tony Stewart joins us from his winery Quails’ Gate in BC’s Okanagan Valley along with wine lover Matt Steeves, in Ottawa, who championed the winning wine during a very competitive voting process.  We talk about: –    Why Optima made such a big impression on Matt the first time he tasted it –    How Optima pairs with cheeses, and which types are best suited to it, as well as some desserts –    What makes Optima unique on the […]

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6 Top Wine and Food Pairings – Huffington Post

Here’s my column in the Huffington Post about the winners of The Great Canadian Wine Match. I also profiled the finalists in each category in previous columns. I’ll be featuring the nominees and finalists of the next wine match this fall that will feature both international and Canadian wines under $25. Stay tuned! Posted with permission of the Huffington Post.

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