This interview with James Tidwell, Master Sommelier was published as one of my columns in Four Seasons Resorts Magazine. James has lots of terrific tips … Champagne is the ultimate drink of celebration, especially at weddings, according to James Tidwell, Master Sommelier at Four Seasons’ Cafe on the Green in Las Colinas, Texas. “Champagne toasts many milestones in life,” Tidwell says, “but one of the most important is the dedication of two people to spend a life together.” We asked Tidwell for his insights on how champagne makes a wedding more memorable at the resort. James Tidwell, Master Sommelier How […]
Best Wines
The Right Temperature for Wine? Chilled Reds, Warmer Whites
What is the right temperature for wine? Depends on if the wine is red, white, sparkling or dessert. However, all wine is often served at the wrong temperature, with red wines too warm and white wines too cold. Too cold, and a wine’s complexity and aromas are numbed; too warm, and it tastes alcoholic, flabby and astringent (that mouth-drying feeling we get from walnuts). The old advice about serving reds at “room temperature” comes from the days when the “room” was a drafty medieval castle of about 18 degrees Celsius (64.4° Farenheit), not today’s toasty, centrally heated homes where the […]
10 Best Champagne Wines to Buy Now + 5 Surprising Facts about Champagne
The sparkling wine Champagne is named after the northern region of France where it’s produced. Other regions of France, as well as other countries, make sparkling wine, but only those from Champagne may be called Champagne. You’ll find my most recent Champagne reviews and ratings here. 5 Surprising Facts about Champagne: 1. Supposedly the eighteenth-century blind Benedictine monk, Dom Pérignon, accidentally discovered how to put the bubbles in Champagne when his wines started fermenting again in the spring after the cold winter had stopped them. Other records attribute this discovery to the British scientist Christopher Merret thirty years before Pérignon. […]
Wine and Cheese Meet Their Match: Together
CBC News host Marivel and I chat about pairing Canadian wine and cheese for Canada Day and beyond in the video above that was syndicated nationally (click on the arrow to watch). We are filming in the CBC studios head office in Toronto, which has an open atrium in the center the building, and is open to 15 floors. Down in the main court, you can hear the sounds of the band warming up in the background for a gala event that night. We just rolled with it ;) Beyond the tips we discuss, some interesting health-related tidbits include: Cheese […]
Celebrating Canadian Wine and Cheese with Great Pairings
One of our lead writers, Matt Steeves, chats with Leanne on CTV’s Morning Live Show about great Canadian wine and cheese pairings featured in The Great Canadian Wine Match. Well done Matt! You can also watch clips from CTV News, Global Television and CBC News with more pairings, as well as radio interviews on Sirius XM, syndicated nationally on satellite, and CJAD, Montreal’s most popular talk show. Celebrating Canadian Wine and Cheese with Great Pairings Leanne: We are going to celebrate with some good Champagne and we’re going to do it Canadian style. Joining us from […]
Matching Cheese and Wine for Entertaining
Sirius XM talk show hosts Christine, Kate and Sharon and I chat about The Great Canadian Wine & Cheese Match in the clip above (click on the arrow to listen) You can also watch clips from CTV News, Global Television, CBC News and CTV Morning Live with more pairings, as well as a radio interview on CJAD, Montreal’s most popular talk show. Matching Cheese and Wine for Entertaining Christine: Hi there, I’m Christine Bentley and I don’t think Kate Millers going to let me say one word here because we are talking about wine with Natalie MacLean. Hi there Natalie! […]
Best LCBO Wine Reviews: Vintages Ratings July 11
You can access the 123 wines that I reviewed for July 11 as a text wine list with my complete tasting notes, scores, food matches. You can also see my wine reviews for June 27, 2015. 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 […]
How to Read a Wine List, Vertical Tastings and Sommelier Sips
Ryan Campbell, formerly sommelier at Toronto’s Crush Wine Bar, now works with the wine lists at the parent company, Vintage Hotels in Niagara. Wine is such a big part of your restaurant, how do you ensure that your staff, who aren’t sommeliers, are still knowledgeable? We hold an informal “wine school” once a month for about 15 staff members. For the last class, we focused on chardonnay with a vertical tasting. Vertical tastings mean one type of wine, like chardonnay, from different producers, but all from the same vintage. A horizontal tasting would be, say chardonnays, all from one producer, […]
Mandela Wines: South African Free Trade Wines Toast with Madiba Label
By Melissa Pulvermacher When someone says Nelson Mandela – what do you think of? Political prominence, humanity, social brilliance and revolutionary philanthropy are only some of the things that come to mind for me. After one afternoon spent at the iYellow Wine Cave, I now add the word ‘wine’ to that list. Yes, that’s right. House of Mandela Wine exists and is not only a great product, but is Free Trade guaranteed and carries through the legacy of Nelson and his family while supporting a thriving industry in South Africa contributing to the country’s economic prosperity. Who knew a great […]
Sloppy Jane with Mozzarella Recipe Paired with Cabernet Franc
The New Barbeque We all know the drill: summer entertaining comes with the summer stress of deciding what to make. Classic barbeque fare is delicious, but it has become somewhat expected and tiresome. So if you’re looking for an alternative to the trusty old BBQ, why not try something different and fun: the Sloppy Jane. This recipe for Sloppy Janes with Mozzarella is prepared on the stove top rather than the grill, but you can make a big batch of the delicious turkey filling and serve it beside BBQ-toasted buns and a bowl of shredded Canadian Mozzarella. Then, guests […]
