By Lesley Quinn With a gold like colour, luscious tropical fruit tones and a full body to pull it all together, Viognier is a bon-viveur’s dream wine. If done properly a good Viognier can be like a late summer walk through a peach orchard. Aromas permeating the warm thick air with pungent ripe fruit. And although it’s decadent, somehow it still leaves you feeling refreshed as most Viogniers are vinified to dryness. But if done poorly a Viognier can be flabby and flat and feel like you’ve decided to take up coconut oil pulling again. Let these 10 great Viogniers be your next buy and these 5 facts about the grape be the talking points you share as you […]
Full-Bodied Wine
Books & Wines With Great Structure & Finish
We often chat about pairing wine and food, but what about pairing bottles with books? You can also watch part two of our book and bottle pairings from CTV yesterday. What’s the first pairing you recommend? We’re starting with one of my favorite wine books, The Wine Bible by Karen MacNeil. It’s sold more than a half a million copies worldwide and is a go-to reference book that’s also engagingly well-written. Karen lives in Napa Valley, so I’d pair this book with this full-bodied, complex Cabernet Sauvignon from Charles Krug, Napa Valley’s oldest winery […]
Discovering the Secret Side of Malbec Wine
By Priya & Alex, A Vine Romance “Come, let me show you another side of Malbec, my friend.” Winemaker Aurelio Montes Jr. spoke the lovely quote above. What distinguishes him from many of his peers is that he makes wines for consumers rather than for winemakers, because he considers himself “a consumer first and foremost.” Perhaps this is why both of us (Alex, the Sommelier and Priya the casual drinker) were able to enjoy the horizontal tasting of Kaiken wines in Toronto at Nota Bene restaurant last week. Over a lunch spanning a leisurely 3 hours (a lovely Argentinian custom we wish Canadians would […]
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 […]
What’s Hot in the World of Wine? Latest Trends (Video)
The hosts of CTV’s The Social and I had great fun chatting about hot, new wine trends. Have you tried any of these wines? Let me know in the comments. What’s heating up in the world of wine this summer? What should we be thinking—and drinking—when it comes to wine? Our next guest is here with the trends to look out for this summer. Joining us now is Natalie MacLean who offers Canada’s most popular online wine and food pairing classes at nataliemaclean.com. Let’s start with the first type of wine that’s trending right now: orange wines. What […]
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 […]
Does Wine Make You Fat? Looking Through a Glass Thinly
My dieting heroine is Bridget Jones from the movie of the same name—not because she was that successful in losing weight, but because she never abandoned her glass of chardonnay (and still managed to snag Colin Firth). For me, dieting is unbearable if I have to give up all the sweets and my wine. (And if I stopped drinking, I’d be out of a job.) The good news is that you can drink wine without getting fat. When it comes to both calories and carbohydrates, moderate wine drinking won’t ruin your diet. Wine has no cholesterol, sodium or fat, […]
Can You Drink Wine on a Diet? Are Dry Wines Better Than Sweet?
Continued from Part 1 Wine Calories Alcohol contributes more calories than sugar. For example, a six ounce glass of slightly sweet German riesling, with just 7% alcohol, will still have fewer calories (about 110) than a dry, robust Australian shiraz with 15% at about 175 calories. Over the past five years, the level of alcohol in many wines has been increasing steadily. This is particularly true for wines from warm climates such as Australia, Chile and California. Grapes are being picked later in the season when they’re riper and laden with sugar, and consequently get fermented into higher-alcohol wines. […]
Bridget Jones Chardonnay Diet: Pairs Well With Neuroses
Continued from Part 2 Wine Diet Within two weeks of announcing their new low-carb wines, Brown-Forman received orders for more than 200,000 cases. The beer market has had similar success: since Michelob Ultra low-carb beer was launched in 2002, it has become Anheuser-Busch’s fastest-growing brand ever. Low calorie light beers comprise about 40% of the U.S. beer market. Is it even worth trying to save a couple of carbohydrates by drinking these wines? While every carb may count for some dieters, carbs from wine represent a small fraction of the total 50 to 60 carbs recommended in the Atkins […]
9 Best Wines to Give as Gifts This Holiday and Year-Round (Video)
Looking for a great bottle of wine to give as a gift this year? So tell us why wine is a great gift and your first recommendations? – one size fits all – doubles are fine – it’s easy to re-gift For an extra festive touch, I’d start with sparkling wine such as these two: Oyster Bay Sparkling Cuvée Rosé Marlborough, New Zealand Gray Monk Estate Winery Odyssey Brut Rosé 2018 Okanagan Valley, British Columbia BC V.Q.A., Canada You’ve got some […]
