Here are my top wine picks from the August 17 Vintages Release. VIP Members can access all 68 wines that I reviewed as a text shopping list with my complete tasting notes, scores, food matches and the stock for each bottle in their closest LCBO stores. Stock numbers are usually posted online a day or two before the release based on the LCBO doing so. They can also add my wine picks to their custom shopping list with one click and access that list on their smartphone. This is one of the benefits of becoming a VIP Member. I’ve […]
Best Wines
Wine of the Week: Cathedral Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, South Africa
Oscar Wilde observed, “Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.” However, anyone who thinks that great wine beyond their means suffers from a lack of solid wine shopping list. Start your weekend list with this robust cabernet sauvignon that’s on sale now at the liquor store. It’s perfect for barbecues and planning trips to discount warehouse outlet stores. Cheers, Natalie Sale Ends: August 18, 2013 Sale Price: $14.95 | Save: $1.00 (Usually $15.95) Natalie’s Score: 87/100 Cathedral Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Paarl, South Africa Leanings toward Bordeaux with a toasty nose and dark fruit. Good balance […]
Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio, Perrin: Best LCBO Wines Vintages August 3
Here are my top wine picks from the August 3 Vintages Release. Full Members can access all 75 wines that I reviewed as a text shopping list with my complete tasting notes, scores, food matches and the stock for each bottle in their closest LCBO stores. (Stock numbers are usually posted online a day or two before the release based on the LCBO doing so.) They can also add my wine picks to their custom shopping list with one click and access that list on their smartphone. This is one of the benefits of becoming a Full Member. You […]
Halifax Sommelier Pairs Wine and Seafood with Titanic Menu
Avery Gavel, assistant manager and sommelier at The Five Fishermen restaurant in Halifax, shares his insights about pairing wine and seafood, creating historic meals with wine and his take on Nova Scotian wines. What was your first wine experience? I grew up on a dairy farm in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, the oldest of five children. Wine wasn’t part of our family traditions, not even special celebrations. Communion in church was grape juice, even. My first wine experience was at The Five Fishermen in the early 1970s when I was 24 and on a double date. We ordered the cheap German […]
Liquid Lingo of Italy: You Say Wine, I Say Vino
By: The Drink Wine and Giggle Gals Dove regna il vino non regna il silenzio. (Where wine reigns, silence does not reign.) Italian Proverb The second stop in our linguistic tour of the world’s top wine-producing countries is Italy. Whenever the Drink Wine and Giggle Gals think about Italy, we think about the Italian philosophy of living referred to as la bella figura—“the beautiful figure”—that is about much more than dressing well, looking good and admiring all forms of physical beauty. La bella figura is also defined by behaviour, specifically how one comports oneself when ordering wine. Our first Italian […]
Wine of the Week: Summer White Blend, Ontario
This week’s bargain bottle reminds me of a quote from the writer Bill Bryson: “My first rule of consumerism is never to buy anything you can’t make your children carry.” Although I never made my young son carry wine when we were in the LCBO, I did wonder what others thought of a 4-year-old being on a first-name basis with all of the product consultants. Here’s a light white that you can easily carry out to the deck or dock this weekend. Cheers, Natalie Sale Ends: August 18, 2013 Sale Price: $13.95 | Save: $1.00 (Usually $14.95) Natalie’s Score: 90/100 […]
Wine Chicken Pairing with Le Clos Jordanne
In the video above, we chat with two Gold Medal winners in The Great Canadian Wine Match: winemaker Sebastien Jacquey and wine lover Darlene Meyers, who rallied thousands of votes for Sebastien’s Le Clos Jordanne Grand Clos Chardonnay to be named Canada’s Best Wine with Chicken. Sebastien joins me from his winery in Niagara, Ontario and Darlene from her home in Halifax, Nova Scotia: – Darlene describes how her first taste of Le Clos Jordanne Le Grand Clos Chardonnay changed her from drinking red wines all the time – Darlene and Sebastien talk about why this wine pairs well with […]
Best Wines: Sterling Chardonnay, J Lohr Cabernet LCBO July 20
Here are my top wine picks from the July 20 Vintages Release. Full Members can access all 79 wines that I reviewed as a text shopping list with my complete tasting notes, scores, food matches and the stock for each bottle in their closest LCBO stores. (Stock numbers are usually posted online a day or two before the release based on the LCBO doing so.) They can also add my wine picks to their custom shopping list with one click and access that list on their smartphone. This is one of the benefits of becoming a Full Member. The […]
Wine of the Week: Cousino-Macul Cabernet Sauvignon, Chile
“A bargain is anything a customer thinks a store is losing money on.” – Kin Hubbard, American humourist and writer, 1868-1930 While I doubt that the LCBO loses money on anything it sells, this robust, delicious red is quite a deal at this price. Cheers, Natalie Sale Ends: July 21, 2013 Sale Price: $13.95 | Save: $2.00 (Usually $15.95) Natalie’s Score: 88/100 Cousino-Macul Cabernet Sauvignon Chile An amazing value on the liquor store shelf! Full-bodied and smooth with classic aromas of cassis, blackberry and blackcurrant. A nice smoky finish. Pair with grilled steak or hamburgers. Drink: Now LCBO Code: 212993 […]
National Post on Wine Writers + Competitions: Critiquing the Critics
National Post drinks columnist Adam McDowell penned an excellent, thought-provoking editorial in the weekend edition of the paper on wine critics and competitions entitled “Are wine critics fooling us into buying pricier bottles?” He opens with the classic Roald Dahl short story Taste, in which a stockbroker makes a bet with his wine snob dining companion, to correctly identify a wine in a blind taste test. (Dahl is also the author of the bestselling children’s novels Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach: clearly a man who loves food and drink, but mercifully doesn’t take it, […]
