Spice up Your Long Weekend Staycation Sometimes having no plan is the best plan you can have. Why not savour the long weekend by inviting another couple over for a game night. With ample Canadian cheese and wine, it won’t take long before you feel like you’re away at the cottage. Tired of serving the same old snacks? This recipe for Canadian Provolone and Mango Chutney on a Cracker is a great twist on an old classic. The mango chutney gives delicious Canadian Provolone an unexpected punch, bringing out the cheese’s subtle smoky flavour. Take couple’s night to the next […]
Month: May 2013
Wine Magazine Video: Canadian Food + Wine Contest
In the video below, I chat with Theresa, editor of Great Wine News Magazine, about The Great Canadian Wine Match, now in the last day for nominations for your favourite wines. The competition has been fierce, but so has the fun as wine lovers from coast to coast rally behind their most-loved wines. Get your final nominations and votes in today before we move to the finalist showdown phase!
Ontario Wines Fight for First in Pairing Competition
In our second chat, Leanne and I discuss the economic value that domestic wines have in our economy, the dramatic rise of BC wines and how well Canadian wines pair with a variety of dishes, the focus of The Great Canadian Wine Match. There’s still time to nominate and/or vote for your favourite Canadian wines. It just takes a few clicks and every wine is celebrated on the nomination wall. Leanne also announces the launch of the wine of the week feature that I’ll be doing for CTV News starting on June 1. These will include both Canadian and international […]
Wine Blogger Conference Comes to Canada
In two weeks, the city of Penticton, BC will be flooded with intrepid wine bloggers swarming the area with glasses in one hand and iphones in the other, tweeting and instagraming the Okanagan Valley into Internet fame. In case you haven’t heard of it, the Wine Bloggers Conference is a combination press junket, wine expo, and MacWorld, with shades of Meetup in between. After five years in the States, the Wine Bloggers Conference will finally cross the Canadian border, and Penticton organizers are working in overdrive to make sure the blogger’s impressions are favorable. There is still time to register […]
Canadian Wine Competition Heats Up: CTV News
In the first part of our chat on CTV News, Leanne and I talk about the great groundswell of support that The Great Canadian Wine Match has received across the country, as well as the regional rivalry between east and west coast wines. Get some great wine picks and pairing tips for the Victoria Day weekend … and find out how you can get involved before we move to the finalist showdown phase this Tuesday. Watch part two of our conversation about this Canadian wine competition. Posted with permission of CTV.
Wine of the Week: Cusumano Syrah, Italy
Shopping is the fine art of acquiring things you don’t need with money you don’t have. However, with this bargain bottle, you won’t have to worry about that … for a while. Enjoy, Natalie Sale Ends: May 26, 2013 Sale Price: $9.95 | Save: $1.00 (Usually $10.95) Natalie’s Score: 87/100 Cusumano Syrah Incredible for this price point! Luscious and full-bodied with layers of fleshy-rip dark fruit. Smooth and tasty. Drink: 2011-2013 LCBO Code: 145490 Sugar Code: Extra Dry Find this wine in your closest LCBO stores now. Feel free to share this thrifty wine find on Facebook or on Twitter […]
Grassroots Video for The Great Canadian Wine Match
Love this! Wine Blogger Joe Hache took the initiative to create this video about the 6 Prince Edward County Wines that he’s nominated for The Great Canadian Wine Match. It’s awesome to see the people behind the labels… however, you don’t have to live in wine country, as Joe does, to create a simple video of your favourite wines. Download the free YouTube app on iPhone, Android or Windows and take a quick video clip from your smartphone of your wine(s), or do it from your laptop using your built-in video camera and YouTube recorder button. Either way, just takes […]
Canadian Wine Featured in Food Pairing Competition
The Great Canadian Wine Match was our topic on CBC Alberta at Noon yesterday, a radio show broadcast across the province. You can click on the arrow below to listen to our chat. We talked about how the contest involves wine pairings for six food categories with voting done online with real-time results reflected in the number of votes for each wine and its relative ranking in the competition. Full engagement of social media is at the heart of this food and wine pairing competition. Posted with permission of CBC.
Online Battle of Bottles in Canadian Contest to Match Food and Wine
The Canadian Press (CP) news service syndicated this story to newspapers and web sites across the country on May 2. OTTAWA – Oenophiles can vote for their favourite food and wine pairing with a new online competition that launched Thursday. Instead of experts weighing in with their choices, The Great Canadian Wine Match lets ordinary wine drinkers from coast to coast vote for their favourite wine and food pairings. Natalie MacLean, who has combined the old world of wine with the new world of technology and social media with an app, blog and website, will moderate the competition, including coast-to-coast […]
Great Canadian Wine Match Challenges Social Media Users to Drink and Vote
You don’t need to tell me that wine is the most important meal of the day. The question is, which type of food do you prefer as a side? That’s the question being asked by Canadian wine writer Natalie MacLean who has worked up a time-sensitive way to pit region against region in The Great Canadian Wine Match, the object of which is to pair your favourite wine with a particular type of food, eventuating in a winner at the end to be voted on by participants in the social media campaign. Crowd-sourcing competitions like these have flourished in recent […]
