Rene Wallis, sommelier at the Brookstreet Hotel’s restaurant Perspectives, in Kanata shares, his tips on choosing from a wine list, unusual food pairings and favourite holiday wines. Where did you grow up? My mother raised my older sister, Angela, and I on her own in Ottawa’s French village of Vanier, a bilingual community where [...]

This past Thursday, we chatted about book and bottle pairings as holiday gifts on Breakfast Television. Words and wine seem like a natural pairing to me … here are my favourites. What are yours? 1. Books are Beautiful The publisher selected 30 classic works of literature and assigned each a beautiful colour. Then the editors [...]

By: Travis Oke Autumn is my favorite season. Not just because it’s my birthday and I get presents – but also because of the food. Parsnips, squashes of all shapes and sizes, and it’s now cold enough in the afternoon that I want to slow roast various cuts of animals in my oven.  Three cheers [...]

I’m not letting go of summer until the first official day of fall, which is still a few weeks away. Now is the time to enjoy luscious tomatoes, sweet corn, grilled steak, field berries and other late summer treats. I’ve paired them with wines in the latest issue of Fine Cooking magazine. Carpe diem!

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 [...]

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 [...]

In the video below, Daniel Speck shares a behind-the-scenes look at the incredibly successful launch of the wine brand Sibling Rivalry. How can you use consumer package goods marketing to such a fragmented, quirky and artisanal category like wine? In 1984, many people thought that the Speck family in Niagara was crazy when they ripped [...]

Here are my top ten wine and chocolate matches for Easter for your sweet enjoyment, courtesy of the Food Network Canada. Dark Chocolate Mousse and Blackstone Winery Zinfandel Winemaker’s Select, California Mini White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecakes and Dow’s Port Late Bottled Vintage, Portugal Flourless Mini Chocolate Orange Cakes with Ganache and Quady Winery Muscat Orange, [...]

Nod To The Odd: Arneis By Holly Bruns A memory can rest, tucked away, until suddenly, in an instant, something unlocks it. It might be a certain song that brings back the high school gym and that first dance, it may be the scene of a particular vista that triggers thoughts of a time and [...]

The best way to a woman’s heart on Valentine’s Day is a subject that’s always up for debate. Even though flowers and heart-shaped boxes of chocolates have been go-to contenders for decades, the old adage goes that candy is dandy but liquor is quicker. Natalie MacLean, the wine expert and author of Unquenchable: A Tipsy [...]