The Honorable Minister of Agriculture, Gerry Ritz (above), was among hundreds who gathered near Parliament Hill in Ottawa last night to celebrate Canadian cheese and wine with the terrific pairings below. It was a privilege to meet the farmers and producers across this country who create these artisanal cheeses. It proved to me, once again, [...]

BC wineries celebrated a vibrant wine tasting on Twitter last night. The positive energy and support from the wine community coast to coast poured out in tweets that came rapid-fire one after the other. A tasting event like this proves what we can build and create together using these new social media tools. Not only [...]

Here’s a toast to the terrific team of wine reviewers who joined in a terrific  wine tasting on Twitter last night. Their enthusiasm and positive energy came through in both their tweets and their reviews for these incredible BC wines (scroll down on the page for each wine to see their notes and scores): Mission [...]

Every New Year, I make—and break—several resolutions about exercise or housecleaning. However, I also make a resolution or two about wine, which have always been easy to keep because they’re fun. Here are a few of my favorites that you can try this year.   1. I resolve to try something new  It’s easy to [...]

This story about Ontario wines by Jessica Allen in Maclean’s Magazine deserves to be shared widely: she makes some excellent points about Ontario wines … By I spent American Thanksgiving with friends in Washington D.C. They’re enthusiastic wine drinkers and the last time they visited this side of the border they couldn’t contain their excitement [...]

In this video, I read a few short sections from Unquenchable, including the parts about meeting Wolf Blass in Australia and Charles Back in South Africa. We also do a quick wine tasting with the 5 steps to tasting wine. It’s tongue-in-cheek but will give you the basics for getting more from each glass. What’s [...]

The excitement for the Ottawa Wolf Blass tasting started with a long lineup that snaked down the sidewalk in front of Restaurant 18. The great vibe from the people who attended, Wolf’s rascal humour and the tasty wines made it a wonderful evening. Here’s more on that plus two video clips from CTV News below [...]

What a spectacular evening we had in Toronto last week at the Wolf Blass tasting! A full-house of 90 guests packed the waterside restaurant Against the Grain. As I interviewed Wolf about his experiences, we tasted his wines and some delicious tapas. More details on the event as well as the Canada AM clip below [...]

Join Natalie MacLean and Wolf Blass in Toronto Sept 10 and Ottawa Sept 17 for a tasting of 12 Wolf Blass wines, a range of sumptuous tapas dishes prepared by Toronto’s award-winning Against the Grain Restaurant and a personally signed copy of Natalie’s book Unquenchable. Natalie MacLean, named the World’s Best Wine Writer at the [...]

In the video below, Scott Carney, Director of Wine Education at the International Culinary Center, shares his insights on the education and training required to become a Master Sommelier. As well: How is the Master Sommelier different from the Master of Wine? What makes your approach to teaching wine different from other schools? Why is [...]