Top 10 Green Wine & Food Matches for St. Patrick’s Day

Which wines go best with the “green food” that we’ll enjoy on St. Patrick’s Day, such as corned beef and cabbage or Irish stew? How about those fresh spring vegetables that will soon be on our plates? Which wines go best with the “green food” that we’ll enjoy on St. Patrick’s Day, such as corned beef and cabbage or Irish stew? How about those fresh spring vegetables that will soon be on our plates? Green foods are the problem children of the wine world. But as a stubborn hedonist whose grandmother’s name was Brophy, I’ve found some terrific wines to […]

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Wines for Easter Brunch and Passover Dinner

  CTV News anchor Natalie Piero an I chat about wines for Easter brunch, Passover and other holiday weekend wines. Also check out The Essential Hip-Hop Guide to Easter Wines, which includes pairing ham and wine, lamb and wine, vegetables and wine, and chocolate and wine.     Wines for Easter Brunch and Passover Dinner Natalie Piero: Passover starts tonight and of course Easter is coming up this weekend. So Natalie MacLean is here to talk about the best wines to pair with whatever meal you might be serving or having for the holidays. Natalie MacLean: Absolutely, we have a variety of […]

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Easter Wines: The Essential Hip-Hop Guide to Earmark

Some of my favourite meals are those we savour to celebrate Easter: fresh asparagus omelets and ham for brunch. But which Easter wines to serve with them? As a determined hedonist, I like something more than orange juice, thank-you—unless it’s a mimosa. The wines that work best are zesty, mouth-watering and lighter than those we drink in the winter—and they’ll put some spring in your glass.     When the coming of spring heralds warmer weather, we feel like celebrating. One of the best ways is by drinking fresh, vivacious wines that suit the season and complement lighter fare. You […]

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8 Sexy Wine + Food Pairings: Aphrodisiac Wines

Pairing wine with aphrodisiac foods sparks a passionate debate on CTV. (It’s never to early too think about it … wine, that is.) We match libido-lifting dishes with different wine types to stimulate all of your senses. Many ingredients have historically been considered aphrodisiacs, sometimes because the food physically resembled male private parts (avocados, which according to the Aztecs, grew on the testicle tree) to their female counterparts (oysters and figs). Other foods, such as chili peppers, provoked the fiery passion of love, with its increased heart beat and sweating. Yet other foods may have contained minerals that increase energy, […]

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11 Best Wines to Pair with Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner

No other holiday celebrates the gift of wine like Thanksgiving. But which wines to pair with turkey and all the side dishes? Here with her tips is Natalie MacLean, who offers Canada’s most popular online wine pairing classes at nataliemaclean.com   What’s your top tip when it comes to pairing wine with Thanksgiving dinner?   Wine is a taste of the harvest along with all the delicious dishes on the table. But actually choosing a bottle can feel like a thankless task, especially with so many flavors to match from sweet creamed corn to more bitter greens and veggies, plus […]

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Wine’s Salad Daze: The Ultimate Guide to Pairing Wine and Vegetables

On CTV’s Your Morning Yesterday, the network’s national breakfast show, we paired wine with vegetables and spring produce. Click the video above to watch.                       Intro Pairing red wine with a steak is easy, but can you drink that same wine with fresh spring produce, like asparagus or artichokes? Here to tell us how to pair wine with veggies and salads is Natalie MacLean, the editor of Canada’s largest wine review site at nataliemaclean.com. Welcome Natalie Station 1 Host: Natalie, why are vegetables harder to pair with wine than say […]

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The Secret to Sauvignon Blanc Wine? (Video)

Leanne and I had great fun chatting about Sauvignon Blanc on CTV as a lead up to Sauvignon Blanc Day May 4. You can watch the video segment above by clicking on the arrow. You can also watch our second wine video.           Santa Rita Reserva Sauvignon Blanc Casablanca Valley, Chile                 Sacred Hill Wine Company Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough, New Zealand                   Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough, New Zealand                   Henry of Pelham […]

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5 Terrible Food and Wine Matches (Video)

On Global’s Morning Television Show, I asked Carolyn and Jeff to try five terrible food and wine matches … their expressions are priceless. We chatted about why these pairings don’t work, and then how to fix them: either with the food or the wine. I can’t cook, so I go the wine route ;) However, a squeeze of lemon or a dash of salt will often help. Here are the wines and pairings we featured below.     We all know that a big red wine pairs well with a steak, but what about more difficult dishes like vegetables and […]

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9 Sparkling Wines That Make Great Holiday Gifts

On CTV’s Your Morning, we chat about how most people think of sparkling wine as the drink of choice for the holidays. What’s the difference between champagne and other sparkling wines, and the two you recommend?   Although champagne only comes from the Champagne region of France, almost every other region of the country and many other countries around the world produce sparkling wines, often using the same winemaking methods and grapes as champagne.   I have two classic champagnes:           Taittinger Brut Reserve Champagne Champagne A.O.C., France                 […]

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Perfect Pairings and Recipes for Asparagus and Wine

  Sponsored Post by the Wines of Austria Seldom have young wines gone so well with springtime’s most distinctive calling-card as do Austria’s 2018 wines. Completely harmonious and beautifully blessed with refined acidity, they provide an ideal partner to the dazzling variety of asparagus dishes due to dominate Austria’s menus in the coming weeks.   Asparagus & Wine from Austria: Delicious Essence of Springtime Asparagus Season is once more in session! No other vegetable stands for culinary pleasure in springtime like the delicious white or green shoots, which are certainly best when locally grown.   Whether with Hollandaise sauce or with […]

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