What goes with death row? How about a silky, fleshy pinot noir from Burgundy? Natalie MacLean can do half of the food and drink thing (see Question No. 7) and has to keep fending off the FedEx guy, who often hints he would like to come in (No. 18). Sommelier and wine writer Natalie MacLean got her start with half a bottle of syrupy sparkling wine behind the shed at a high school dance. Perhaps there’s hope yet for us all. 1. What comment most often appeared on your report cards? “Enjoys writing stories.” I also couldn’t resist a good […]
Month: March 2011
Food & Wine 13
Students can enjoy wine at mealtimes without having to shell out big bucks, said Natalie MacLean, an accredited sommelier and author of Red, White, and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass. “Wine is an ideal way to dress up all sorts of dishes that are fairly straightforward,” she said. “It’s like putting rhinestones on jeans.” MacLean said students should look for wines that are undervalued and underpriced, such as wines from Chile, Argentina and South Africa. She suggested trying popcorn with Chilean chardonnay, nachos with California Zinfandel, potato chips with French Champagne, pizza with Italian Chianti […]
Vegetables & Wine 3
You have the color-coded cheat sheet memorized: red wine with red meat and white wine with white meat. But what do you drink when your meal is sans meat altogether? Though the Vegetarian Resource Group reports that only an estimated 2 to 3 percent of Americans are strictly vegetarian, another 30 to 40 percent are flexitarian, eating a veggie meal or two each week. Meat-free meals do have their advantages. For one, they’re healthful. The American Dietetic Association says diets that include a variety of vegetarian foods tend to result in lower rates of heart disease, high blood pressure, type […]
Food & Wine 12
Natalie MacLean is a productive wine writer who also has an active life on the internet. She has just launched a new wine and food matching “widget” for social media. What does this mean? Well, it’s a small piece of code that one can use if one has a blog or a web page. By putting the code on one’s page, one gets a little frame on the page with a food and wine matching tool to help you match the best wine with food. You can discover many things with the widget, sometimes quite amusing. For example, that if […]
Food & Wine 11
I’m not much of a wine connoisseur I’m afraid. Never have been. It’s simply that I haven’t found a wine that I enjoy the taste of, so when it comes to alcoholic drinks I tend to stick to beer. I enjoy most beer brands on the market today and am not overly fussy about which one I drink, but if given the choice I like to keep it real (and not drink pink drinks!). Anyway, my point is that when it comes to wine I couldn’t tell the difference between a Chardonnay and a Chihuahua. I don’t have a clue […]
Food & Wine 10
We are just a week away from St. Patrick’s Day – a time for merriment. And a time when many folks like to celebrate by serving a great meal to their friends and family. But pairing just the right wine and food can be tricky. I discovered a great tool that can help you pick the perfect wine to match with your food choice. You can try it out right here! Just start by clicking on the Food or Wine option….and have fun discovering which match will motivate them to do that Irish jig! This Wine and Food Matcher comes […]
Food & Wine 9
Natalie MacLean, a four-time James Beard Journalism Award winner, recently unveiled a new food and wine pairing tool on her website, Nat Decants. While primarily for wine-lovers, the tool also pairs beer, liquor and coffee. The vast number of foods and beverages in the database make this a useful tool to bookmark for the next time you are planning a special meal or opening a prized bottle.
Food & Wine 8
Natalie MacLean is a food and wine expert and an all-around good writer. When I have questions about what to drink with a meal, or what’s new on the wine horizon, I usually go to her website. There’s so much information crammed into one site that it’s almost overwhelming. One of the cooler features of the site is her “Drinks Matcher” tool. You choose a food or choose a wine and the matcher will tell you what, well, matches. The level of detail is surprising – Nat includes more than just a few standard meals and a wide variety of […]
Food & Wine 7
Right now, hanging out on my wine rack, I have a bottle of 2007 Syncline Mourvedre from the Coyote Canyon Vineyard in Horse Heaven Hills, and it’s just begging to be opened. I loved last year’s vintage, so I can’t wait to get at the newest. At the recommendation of Peter Moore from Poco Wine Room, though, it’s going to get even better if I give it a month to open up a bit (it’s still just a baby), so I’ve been sitting on it for about three weeks, going crazy all the while. With all this anticipation, maybe I […]
Ethiopian Fare & Wine
Ethiopians have for centuries made a honey wine known as tej. You can sometimes find this mead-like beverage for sale at some Ethiopian restaurants. Or, you could try a mead made domestically. For most diners looking for that Ethiopian meal out at a restaurant or for takeout, the drink of choice most likely will be beer or a grape-based wine. The question is: What sort of wine to pour with Ethiopia’s highly seasoned meat and vegetable dishes, most of which are served on rounds of injera, the tart Ethiopian flat bread made from teff flour. Tom Benezra of Sal’s Beverage […]
