It is a pleasure to meet any winemaker, especially one who makes a journey across the world to share his wine personally with us. Our group had the pleasure of meeting Ian Hongell from Peter Lehmann wines who led us through a tasting, at Sidedoor restaurant, with their wide range of wines paired with tapas. Jennifer MacDonald Havers Wine Columnist, Ottawa Citizen Peter Lehmann is located in the Barossa region, a small wine region of Australia producing only about 65,000 tonnes of fruit per year. It contains some ancient Shiraz, Cabernet, Grenache and Semillon vines, some are 150 or 160 years […]
Food & Wine Pairing
Rediscover Bordeaux with Château Phelan-Ségur
By Mymi Myriam On the eve of a massive winter storm that threatened to shut down most of the eastern coast of the United States, I had the pleasure of briefly sitting down with Pamela Wittman prior to attending the LCBO sponsored Union des Grands Crus Bordeaux tasting at the Carlu. An oenologist by profession, she is now the US representative for Château Phélan-Ségur located in the Médoc St-Éstèphe region of Bordeaux. The estate’s story starts with a young Irish wine merchant name Bernard Phelan who settled into the area in the late 18th century and married a local girl […]
Drinking the Green: St. Patrick’s Day Wines
March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day … which begs the question: Is there any wine that pairs with corned beef and cabbage? This in turn begs the question: Can we skip the corned beef and cabbage and just have wine? No matter. Traditional matches for this Irish meal usually include Irish stout, like Guinness. But what about wine? Corned beef is salty and cabbage is skunky: is there a wine for that? Yes, as long as you avoid those wines with a strong sulphur smell or taste, as well as big red wines with heavy tannins and oak. Your best bet […]
How to Get the Most from a Wine Show? 17 Insider Tips
You’ll find my Top 10 Wine Shows in Canada list, as well as a tongue-in-cheek story of attending a show. And here are my top tips on how to get the most from a wine show: 1. To build your stamina in the weeks leading up to the show, walk around Price Club during the weekends. Eat lots of the cheese-doodles and toothpick wieners. And be nice to the Demo Lady: she may well be pouring your sample at the show. 2. Eat before you come to the show even though there are often lots of food exhibitors. A full […]
Days of Roses and Red Wine: A New App for Your Valentine
By Olivia Villalta Valentine’s Day and roses go hand in hand. Want to tell someone you love them? Roses. Want to show someone you missed them? Roses. Want to get out of the dog house? Roses. But there’s more to these flowers than a beautiful gesture, composed in an elegant vase. Let me share some secrets with you on how to plan the perfect date night using roses in some surprising and creative ways. First, you’ll need two bouquets… one red, for your loved one, and one with a rainbow of many colours, just for fun. The Perfect Delivery With […]
Pop Taittinger Champagne For a Sparkling Holiday
By Melissa Pulvermacher As we near the New Year, it’s a time of celebration, family and good times. This often means that we indulge on fine foods and drink the best of the best. The most popular beverage includes bubbly wine of all kinds. There are so many fantastic options including Italian bubbles, delicious New World sparkling of every style and unique representations from all around the world. Perhaps the most famous bubbly that comes to mind is Champagne — and I don’t just mean the word the entire world has adopted to describe anything cream coloured or sparkling. I […]
Which Wine for Holiday Movie Night? Get into the Festive Spirits
By Alex and Priya, A Vine Romance It really is the most wonderful time of the year and what else do we do on our evenings at home but re-watch our favorite holiday movies? We can’t wait to curl up and enjoy our picks, and we’ve paired some wines to make those cozy evenings a bit cozier! Love Actually Sigh. One of our all-time favorite romantic comedies and like any good rom-com, it’s bittersweet, making you laugh out loud one moment and tear up the next. For this we choose a classic Amarone, which is rich, full-bodied and attention grabbing […]
Tania’s Magical Matches: Wine Pairing for Canadian Gouda
By Tania Thomas Gouda, one of the oldest and most popular cheeses in the world dates back to 1100’s in its native Holland and is still made today. It is named after the city of Gouda as it has historically been traded there for centuries. Today, the name describes general style of cheese made similar to the old traditional Dutch way, as well as the Dutch original. Brought to Canada with the skilled Dutch cheese-making immigrants who used their centuries-old secret recipes and their native cultures, Canada’s Goudas are every bit as delicious and as high in quality as the […]
Gift Wines to Make Your Holidays Sparkle
Team member Matt Steeves above, chats about his favourite holiday gift wines on CTV’s Morning Show above. Click the arrow to play. Team member Tania Thomas recommends her favourite holiday sparkling wines on Rogers Daytime Television. Gift Wines to Make Your Holidays Sparkle 1st video Leanne: Well you don’t need to spend a lot to get great wines. In fact when it comes to entertaining often the best wines are some of the least expensive and the most appealing. So here with his top picks and tips on how to serve wine at your holiday party, we […]
Holiday Wine Team Tasting: Your Wines for Gift Giving and Entertaining
On Sunday, 22 wine-loving, football-sacrificing souls (it was Grey Cup) gathered to taste more than 70 spectacular wines. Click on the arrow above to hear about Jennifer’s favourite wine from the tasting, a Chilean Carmenere with bright acidity, nice little spice, great for a wide variety of foods. Jennifer MacDonald Havers Wine Columnist, Ottawa Citizen Monique explains her reasons for picking Taittinger Champagne to toast her celebration events. Monique Ippolito Wine Columnist, Ottawa Living Magazine Craig’s take on Beringer Quantum […]
