By Alex and Priya – A Vine Romance Watching movies under the stars sounds lovely, watching them in the beauty of vineyards with a glass of wine in hand and it’s downright poetic! That’s what awaits you if you head out to the Niagara Integrated Film Festival June 18-21. The festival is entering it’s second year and recently held a media tour to give a hint of what attendees will experience. Let us tell you, you’re not going to want to miss out on this unique collaboration of wine & film. In fact, we’re giving away a pair of tickets […]
White Wine
Marco de Grazia: Coaxing Wine from Contradiction (and Lava)
Part 2: Sicily’s Volcanic Wines Sicily is also known as mezzogiorno, “the land of the midday sun”—and of the midday nap. This April afternoon is so warm that I decide to take la pausa before my next visit. I love that notion of an afternoon pause: it doesn’t sound lazy, just meditative. I retreat to my dark hotel room and flop on the cool bed sheets, mesmerized by my ceiling fan as its breeze evaporates the sweat on my arms and legs. Outside, a dog barks, someone laughs, a door slams. Then quiet. After several hours of drugged sleep, I […]
LCBO Wines on Sale: May 24 to June 20
Sponsored Post by Philippe Dandurand Wine Agency You can get the complete shopping list of these wines in your closest liquor stores here. Yellow Tail Sangria Australia Regular Price: $10.95 Sale Price: $9.95 [yellow tail] Pinot Grigio 2014 New South Wales, Australia Regular Price: $$10.95 Sale Price: $8.95 Georges Duboeuf 2013 Beaujolais, France Regular Price: $12.95 Sale Price: $10.95 HobNob Wine Company Pinot Noir 2014 Languedoc I.G.T. France Regular Price: $12.95 Sale Price: $11.95 Chapoutier Rasteau 2013 Rhone Valley A.O.C. France […]
Vino Under the Volcano: Etna Wines Erupt Expected Notions of Terroir
Editor’s Note: I’ve been writing about volcanic wines since my second book, Unquenchable, was published with Random House in 2011. My fascination with them continues. I expected something a little more dramatic: the sizzle of a lava river oozing down the volcano, the rumble of the earth as it split between my feet, the screams of villagers running for their lives. Instead, all I hear are the clicks of tourist cameras as we look up at Mount Etna, its white tip puffing peacefully against the blue sky. “To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily is not to have seen […]
Volcanic Wines Fire the Imagination and Thirst for More
Continued from Part 1: Volcanic Wine Leaving the tourist stop, I fold myself back into my five-inch Fiat. It takes about ten hours drive to the top of the volcano, though I’m not going that far today. Still, with every twist and turn in the road that takes me higher up the mountain, my ears pop and my heart beats faster, wondering whether I’ll come head-on with a tour bus barreling downwards. Out of the corner of my eye, I see vineyards tucked between the medieval villages, chunks of volcanic stone in marvelously strange shapes crouch between the vines. I’m […]
Avondale Winery: South African Wine With its Ducks in a Row
By Priya & Alex, A Vine Romance When you think of South African wines, several prominent names may come to mind, but there is more to this region than just a few well-known wineries. We learned this the easy way—by meeting one of the remarkable winemakers who is producing wines of exceptional quality. That winemaker is Jonathan Grieve and the winery is Avondale. The invite we received to join Jonathan at a winemakers lunch had us a bit skeptical. What could we expect from a man who holds a duck in his arms in a promo shot? Well, we learned […]
Remy Pannier Tasting with Fresh Wines for Spring
Remy Pannier Winemaker Tasting with Pierre Charon By Priya and Alex, A Vine Romance It’s not often you get invited to an exclusive and intimate lunch with a talented winemaker visiting all the way from France, but we were lucky enough to do just that this past week. The Novotel on the Esplanade was the setting for this lovely event and they put out a great spread to match with the wines, with lots of cheese and seafood. They were kind enough to accommodate Priya, who’s a vegan, by having some vegetable antipasto and green salad along with mixed nuts […]
Wolf Blass Yellow Label Wines Go Regional
Wolf Blass Yellow Label Sparkling Brut Sparkling White South East Australia Green apple fresh with zesty lime. Terrific bubbly for this price. Perfect for any large festive gathering. Alcohol: 11% Sweetness: Extra Dry Drink: 2015-2017 Score: 88 Price: $17.95 LCBO #: 708290 Smoked Chicken, Pancetta and Roasted Pear Pizza Recipe Makes: 2 pizzas Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 15 minutes Ingredients: 2 brown pears (Beurre Bosc) ½ cup Wolf Blass Yellow Label Padthaway Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 1 tablespoon brown sugar 50g butter 2 large par-baked plain pizza bases 250g grated mozzarella cheese 8 thin slices pancetta 1 smoked […]
The Fruit Whisperer: California Vineyards Speak in Beringer Wine Tasting
Beringer’s Chief Winemaker, Laurie Hook, leads our team tasting of an impressive line-up of red and white wines from select vineyards of California’s Napa and Sonoma Valleys. Laurie’s Hippy Approach to Winemaking … aka The Fruit Whisperer A-oiy! Look out for that ship bearing down on you at 70 knots, setting a course right through your Chardonnays! Our shipshape crew on deck for this tasting: Jennifer MacDonald, Wine Writer, Ottawa Citizen Jane Staples, Wine Writer, Windsor Star and Ottawa Wedding Magazine Matt Steeves, Wine Expert, CTV Morning Live Heather Wall, Wine Writer, Huffington Post Canada Monique Ippolito, Wine Writer, Ottawa […]
Wine Writers Behaving Like Critics: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
By Natalie MacLean They called it a tempest in a wine glass: two of the world’s most respected wine writers facing off against one another over one bottle of wine. Of course, there’s nothing unusual about critics disagreeing, even vehemently. But this time, the debate degenerated into a rumble over the definition of wine itself—and the integrity of the critics. In the American corner was Robert Parker, whose wine scores carry so much weight that they move the market. From Britain, was author Jancis Robinson, Master of Wine and columnist for the Financial Times of London. Both have written more […]
