Spring Wines for Fish, Shellfish and Seafood

CTV News anchor Natalie Piero and I chat about wines for spring, including those that pair well with both fish and shellfish, as well as those that drink well on their own as an aperitif.   Spring Wines for Fish, Shellfish and Seafood   Host: It’s the Natalie Show today ;) Natalie: Easy to remember. Host: Spring is here finally! Natalie: Yes! Host: And Natalie MacLean is here to talk about some of the spring wines. Natalie: Absolutely! Host: You change what you drink depending on the weather? Natalie: Yes, I do. Like winter wardrobe, get out of those heavy sweaters, get into something lighter, more comfortable. You’ll […]

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Video: Why is Rosé One of the Fastest Growing Wine Categories?

One of the fastest growing categories in the liquor store is rosé wine. Here to tell us why and which ones we should buy is Natalie MacLean, the editor of Canada’s most popular wine review site at nataliemaclean.com – why has rosé had such a bad reputation in the past? – how are modern rosés different in terms of how they taste? – how are they different in terms of how they’re made? – you’ve brought some today: which regions should we be looking for in the liquor store? – how are Canadian rosés different from French ones? – is […]

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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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Take the Quiz: Pair Wine with this Year’s Oscar Nominees

On CTV’s The Social yesterday we paired our favourite paired wines with this year’s Oscar nominees. Can you guess the pairings correctly? Watch the video above to play along with our hosts. Now you’re all set for the Academy Awards tomorrow evening!   View Survey   Here are my Top 20 Oscar Wines showing your which liquor stores have them in stock now … enjoy! Best Supporting Actor or Actress – Jess We’re starting with Miravel Rose … it’s a dry rose from southern France. Which Oscar-nominated best supporting actor would you pair with this wine? Sylvester Stallone in Creed Tom Hardy in […]

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Video: Wine + Cheese > Who Wore It Best? Perfect Pairings

Wine and cheese: two of life’s greatest pleasures … On CTV’s The Social, we search for the perfect pairing with a fun take on the fashion quiz: Who wore it best? Which one of two wines paired best with a particular cheese? Find out who got it right and who didn’t ;)     7 Unusually Great Wine & Cheese Pairings Guide     Here are the wines we featured on the show … see links below for reviews and to find them in your local liquor store.     Cheddar Hard cheeses like cheddar become not just stronger, but […]

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Galentine’s Day Wines for Your Besties Get-Together (Video)

Valentine’s Day is coming up, but what if you’re not in a relationship? There’s a special day for you, too. It’s called Galentine’s Day and it happens every year on February 13th. On CTV News, we chat about terrific wines to drink on both days.   Let’s start with what is Galentine’s Day?   – It’s one of those made-up micro-holidays, like Friendsgiving just before Thanksgiving, that’s a reaction against the day that commercializes romance and instead celebrates platonic love/female friendship and the bond that lasts longer: women and wine!   – As one embroidered pillow on Etsy read: Happy […]

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Music and Wine Pairing: Cabernet in C Major

On CTV’s The Social yesterday, we had so much fun pairing wine and music. This was also the topic on CTV News with Leanne further below. MARCI Welcome back. Would you add heavy metal music to your playlist if someone told you it’d make your wine taste better? Well, our next guest says it’s something you should consider because a growing body of research suggests music may influence the way our brain interprets the flavour of wine. LAINEY Natalie MacLean is the editor of Canada’s largest wine review site and she’s here to put that theory to the test. Welcome […]

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Can You Lose Weight While Drinking Wine?

Do we have to give up wine if we want to shed a few pounds? No! Click on the arrow above to watch the video … On CTV’s The Social, we put this notion to the test with a fun quiz show format on calories and wine. How many answers can you get right? Three of the wines we’ll taste are marketed as “diet wines” with just 70-80 calories: SkinnyGrape, SkinnyGirl and one other, plus two ringers.     Two wines are not diet wines, but are naturally low in calories. The names of two wines give them away, but […]

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Canadian Icewine: Extreme Winemaking

In our Facebook Live Video Wine Tasting above, we chat about the difficulty in making icewine and why it’s so expensive. We also welcome our special guest, Daniel Speck of Henry of Pelham Winery, Niagara, Ontario. You can click on the arrow above to play the video. If you’d like to read the 100+ comments, or make a comment yourself, visit: https://www.facebook.com/natdecants/videos/10154730618869845/ You’ll find the most recent live video wine tasting at the top of the timeline here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/natdecants/posts/ We taste every Sunday evening at 6 pm eastern so add us to your calendar and grab a glass of wine. Click […]

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How to Pair Wine with People on Your Gift List (Video)

‘Tis the season for holiday entertaining and gift giving. What if you’d like to give someone a bottle of wine? How do you know which one to choose? How much do you spend? Here to help us with that is wine expert Natalie MacLean.   Welcome Natalie. So if choosing the right wine is so tricky, why should we give wine as a gift at all? When you give the gift of wine, doubles are fine unlike toaster ovens, there are no wrong sizes unlike that ugly sweater and re-gifting is so much easier compared to fruit cake or a […]

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