World Malbec Day Celebrates Argentina’s Flagship Red Wine

Leanne and I had a great time chatting about Malbec on CTV. Did you know that April 17 is Malbec World Day (#MalbecWorldDay), celebrating the flagship red grape for the wines of Argentina, as well as a blending grape in Bordeaux and other regions? You’ll find my most reviews and ratings of Malbec Wines here. The Malbec grape produces wines that stylistically fall between Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with more plummy richness and roundness than Cabernet, but firmer tannins and structure than Merlot. Pair Malbec with beef, turkey, spicy dishes, tomato sauces, meaty casseroles, hamburgers, sausages, steak and kidney pie, […]

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Video: Wine Supertasters, Vinotype Quiz and Your Taste in Wine?

On CTV’s The Social yesterday, we chatted about how to find your Vinotype, or taste in wine. Click the arrow above to play the video. We also discussed what a Supertaster is: “Someone who lives in a neon taste world,” according to researcher Linda Bartoshuk, “whose taste sensations are roughly three times as intense to them as non-tasters.” I’ve also heard compared to having 500 fingers rather than 10. So yes, I was tested, did the blue dye tongue test and measurements with Tim Hanni in California (see our video chat below). You can take Tim’s quiz to find your vinotype […]

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Pairing Wine with Spicy, Sweet and Sour Dishes for Chinese New Year and Beyond

This Facebook Live Video Wine Tasting above, we chat about pairing wine with our favourite Chinese dishes, from sweet and sour chicken to wontons and spring rolls. You can click on the arrow above to play the video. We’re joined by guest winemaker, Jean-Benoit Deslauriers of Benjamin Bridge Winery to help us celebrate the Chinese New Year. You’ll find the most recent live video wine tasting at the top of the timeline here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/natdecants We taste every Sunday evening at 6 pm eastern so add us to your calendar and grab a glass of wine. Click on the icons for “Share” and […]

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Taco Bell Jalapeno Noir Wine: Taste Test Verdict (Video)

Taco Bell just launched a new wine called Jalapeno Noir, a Pinot Noir produced by the boutique Queenston Mile Vineyard in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Is this a perfect pairing or marketing mistake? Watch the video above to find out and let me know what you think of this combo in the comments below please. Cheers, Natalie   🍷 Queenston Mile Vineyard We love saying “cheesy chalupa”…rolls off your tongue like the wine! . 🍷 Andrea Shapiro It’s really awesome that it is sold through Taco Bell too, a new revolution for wine sales. Many restaurants have adapted to selling wines with take […]

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The Wine Bible with Karen MacNeil Video

Our guest this evening is Karen MacNeil, author of The Wine Bible! Note: The audio and visual are out of sync (thanks Facebook!) but the interview is well worth listening to … just close your eyes ;)   Want to know who our next guests are? You can find out here and previous episodes of the Sunday Sipper Club (SSC) .     The former wine correspondent for the Today Show, the first Food and Wine Editor of USA Today, and she has been published in more than 50 newspapers and magazines including The New York Times, Town & Country, […]

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Wine for Normal People with Elizabeth Schneider (Video)

Our guest this evening is the award-winning host of one of the popular wine podcasts, Wine for Normal People. She’s also a Certified Sommelier by the Court of Master Sommeliers, a Certified Specialist of Wine by the Society of Wine Educators, and co-founder of Underground Wine Events, which brings together wine lovers with terrific, small wineries, and a public speaker on wine around the US. She’s the author of the forthcoming book, Wine For Normal People, to be published by Chronicle Books this November 2019. She also holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and […]

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Why Do You Buy Wine With a Label That Matches Your Personality? (Video)

  Darcen is a market researcher specializing in both consumer behavior and sensory evaluation. With over a decade of experience designing and implementing research studies, he recently completed his Masters at the University of British Columbia Okanagan, that studied the sensory experience of wine and how this impacts consumer decision making. Specifically, his research explores how identifying with a wine label goes beyond increasing appeal and purchase intent and can actually impact the taste of the wine. Darcen and his research partner, Arnica Rowan, run Terroir Consulting (terroirwine.ca) in the Okanagan. Together, they create fun wine events like the B.C. […]

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Why is the Rosé Wine Revolution Happening Now? Elizabeth Gabay, Master of Wine, Knows (Video)

  The tech gods weren’t cooperating with us for this chat as Liz’s audio was cutting in and out so we had a shorter chat than usual. We’ll reschedule Liz in the future.   Our guest this evening is Elizabeth Gabay, And she joins me now, live from London, UK; welcome to the Sunday Sipper Club Elizabeth Gabay! Want to know who our next guests are? You can find previous episodes of the Sunday Sipper Club (SSC) and to find out who’s coming up next. . Rosé: Understanding the Pink Wine Revolution   With a degree in history and a […]

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What’s the Allure of Wines from Provence? Video with Jill Barth

Our guest this evening is a wine columnist for Forbes and a wine country travel expert for USA TODAY. She’s the founder and author of L’Occasion, an award-winning digital magazine that celebrates the ways we drink, make, and contemplate wine. She’s also a Provence Wine Master through the Wine Scholar Guild and received a fellowship to the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers. And she joins me now, live from her home in Chicago: Welcome  Jill Barth!   Watch previous episodes of the Wednesday Wining Show (WWS)  and find out who’s coming up next.     Jill Barth   I’m a […]

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From Sommelier Scandals to Food Pairing Myths with San Francisco Chronicle Wine Columnist Esther Mobley (Video)

What’s it like to interview one of the biggest rock stars on the planet about her new winery where she’s actually the winemaker? Which food and wine pairing rules are complete bunk? And which actually have merit? Who are the most interesting people and places in the world of wine? That’s exactly what our guest on the Sunday Sipper Club will reveal to us this evening. Our guest this evening has been The San Francisco Chronicle’s wine critic since 2015, covering California wine, beer and spirits. Previously she was an assistant editor at Wine Spectator magazine in New York. She […]

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