I’ll be chatting with the hosts of the CBC radio drive-home shows from coast to coast this Thursday and Friday about wines for Valentine’s Day. But we’re going to depart from the usual natter about which wines are most seductive or how to pair them with chocolate. We’ll go straight to the heart of the matter: how do you liquor up your lover on February 14? More specifically, we’ll talk about why wines are getting more alcoholic these days and how does that affect their taste and ours? Is this just a cultural trend of winemakers responding to the market? Is […]
Author: Natalie MacLean
Chocolate and Wine Pairings that will Surprise (and Seduce) Your Valentine
We paired wine and chocolate for Valentine’s Day the Sunday Sipper Club! You can watch our Live Video Wine Tasting above — click on the arrow to play. Join is for our next tasting this Sunday at 6 pm eastern right here: www.nataliemaclean.com/live Sip with you soon! In this second Facebook Live Video Wine Tasting above, we also chat about pairing wine with chocolate for Valentine’s Day. We’re joined by guest winemaker, David Guimaraen of Fonseca to help us get ready for the big day, as well by guests from Chocolaterie Bernard Callebaut. If you’d like to read 140 comments […]
How Do You Become a Master Sommelier: Video with Elyse Lambert MS
Our guest this evening has not only earned the coveted Mater Sommelier designation, but she also was named Canada’s Best Sommelier and came fifth in the World’s Best Sommelier event. She has lots of tips and tricks for us when it comes to learning about and appreciating wine. … and she joins me live now from her home in Montreal: Welcome to the Sunday Sipper Club Elyse Lambert! If you’d like to read the comments for this tasting, or make a comment yourself, visit: https://www.facebook.com/natdecants/videos/10155749534974845/ Here’s a sampling of our lively discussion from our Elyse Lambert Video Chat: […]
Best LCBO Wine Reviews: Vintages Ratings January 20
You can access the 103 wines that I reviewed for as a text wine list with my complete tasting notes, scores, food matches. You can also see my wine reviews for December 9. If you are a Paid Member, you can add my wine picks to your custom shopping list with one click and access that list on your smartphone to find the stock for each wine in your closest LCBO store. These are just some of the benefits of supporting out wine community as a Paid Member. Inventory stock numbers are usually posted online a day or two […]
Live Video Wine and Food Tasting: January 24
Join me for a live food and wine tasting on Wednesday, January 24 at 7 p.m. eastern. I’ll share with you three of my favourite pairings that may surprise you. Taste along with me to see if you agree. We’ll have an online poll at the end when you can vote for your top combo. This tasting will be hosted on Zoom, a video tool similar to Skype, but easier to use. Just login here on January 24: https://zoom.us/j/897555688 If you’ve not used Zoom Zoom before, you’ll be prompted to download the application. I’ll be there early to get […]
Importing Wine for Pleasure and Profit (Video)
Have you ever enjoyed a wine when you were traveling abroad say in Tuscany or Bordeaux, and wondered, how can I import a case of this when I get back home, especially when it’s not in the liquor store? And beyond importing wine for pleasure, what about for profit, whether it’s to save money on your purchases or to get into the business of being a wine importer? That’s exactly what we’re going to learn from our guest tonight, Charles Steven Trenholme. Steven Trenholme has been hosting the seminar Importing for Wine, Beer & Spirits For Pleasure & Profit, since […]
Live Video Wine Tasting with Jane Masters, Master of Wine and Opimian
You won’t want to miss our live video chat with Jane Masters, Chair of the Institute of Masters of Wine and Wine Consultant for the Opimian Club! Join us Sunday, January 28, 2018 at 6 pm EST right here (click on this link below): www.nataliemaclean.com/live Click on the “Follow” and “Like” buttons on this Facebook page to get notified when we go live. Listen to her stories and experiences as we taste wines together: What did it take to become a Master of Wine? What are her most interesting stories in the world of wine? How does she taste hundreds […]
Do Flights of #Wine on This Airline Give You a Vertigo Tasting?
Leanne and I chat about what happens to our perception of wine when we fly, as well as other travel-related tips with wine. In our first segment, we chat about my online wine course. My dream flight begins with the wine selection: “We’d like to direct your attention to the wine list in the seat pocket in front of you. You’ll note we have a fine selection of first-growth Bordeaux at the rear of the plane (using the double-arm, two-finger signal), 40-year vintage port is being decanted in the middle aisles and, for our first-class passengers, a vertical of […]
Fresh from Oyster Bay: Hawke’s Bay Pinot Grigio
Fresh from Oyster Bay: Hawke’s Bay Pinot Grigio Step out in the middle of the day on a classic New Zealand’s summer: the brightness is beautifully intense, and sunshine plentiful. But stay about a little, until nightfall, when you feel the land chill quickly, creating one of the longest growing seasons on earth. The cool climate of places like New Zealand results in a slow, almost methodical ripening of the grape. As the warm days edge the grape toward ripeness, the cool nights capture its flavour. Day after day, night after night, this process results in the unmistakably vibrant, fruit-forward […]
