Get tips on pairing Canadian wine and mozzarella cheese and where you can buy them from Canadian cheese shops. Find Canadian cheeses in this searchable directory by province or by cheese producer, as well as a complete list of Canadian cheeses. Here’s how to store and serve Canadian mozzarella cheese. When you nominate or vote for a wine, click on the wine bottle. Then on the wine review page, just click on this link beside the larger wine bottle: “Add My Review” Please share a few thoughts on why you like this wine and cheese combo. You don’t have to […]
Grapes & Regions
Canadian Creamy Cheese and Wine Pairing: The Great Canadian Wine Match
Get tips on pairing Canadian wine and creamy cheese such as Brie and Camembert and where you can buy them from Canadian cheese shops. Find Canadian cheeses in this searchable directory by province or by cheese producer, as well as a complete list of Canadian cheeses. Here’s how to store and serve creamy cheeses. When you nominate or vote for a wine, click on the wine bottle. Then on the wine review page, just click on this link beside the larger wine bottle: “Add My Review” Please share a few thoughts on why you like this wine and cheese combo. […]
Canadian Blue Cheese and Wine Pairing: The Great Canadian Wine Match
Get tips on pairing Canadian wine and blue cheese and where you can buy them in Canadian cheese shops. Here’s how to store and serve Canadian blue cheese. Find Canadian cheeses in this searchable directory by province or by cheese producer, as well as a complete list of Canadian cheeses. When you nominate or vote for a wine, click on the wine bottle. Then on the wine review page, just click on this link beside the larger wine bottle: “Add My Review” Please share a few thoughts on why you like this wine and cheese combo. You don’t have to […]
Sommelier Loves Pairing Wine with PEI Shellfish and Seafood
Lesley Quinn, Sommelier, Sim’s Corner Steakhouse and Oyster Bar in Charlottetown, PEI Was wine a part of your family’s meals when you were young? I grew up in a small farming community on Prince Edward Island, with two older brothers. Wine wasn’t a part of our meals at home. However, my mother worked in the tourism industry, and she was host to journalists from around the world. She’d take me with her to meals with them, and it was during one of those dinners, that I had my first sip of wine. Apparently, I described it as tasting like sour grape juice. What […]
Villa Maria Stays True to its Roots: New Zealand Winery Focuses on the Field
Villa Maria By Julia Kelada Often, decanting a wine for an hour gives it time to breathe and reveal its true character. That was exactly the time I was fortunate to spend recently talking with Sir George Fistonich, founder and owner of Villa Maria Wines in New Zealand, who has been making wines for more than 50 years. Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc 2014 Cellar Selection Sauvignon Blanc 2013 Private Bin Pinot Gris 2013 Private Bin Pinot Noir 2011 Cellar selection Pinot Noir 2010 Private Bin Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 Reserve Cabernet Merlot 2010 Although I had researched a long list […]
Argentina’s Wine Visionary Sees the Future Rooted in the Past
Continued from Part 4 of Argentine Wine The 1982 Falklands War with Britain also didn’t help the economy or exports. Then there was hyper-inflation that exceeded 3,000 percent a month, which discouraged foreign investment. Vintners made up for the lost revenue by producing high volumes of poor-quality wines that smelled like bananas rotting in an attic. Meanwhile, neighboring Chile’s economy was much more stable and the country was already producing more wine than it could consume, so it was focused on export in the 1980s. Chile took advantage of this to position itself at the very low end of the […]
10 Best Ripasso Wines to Buy Now + 5 Surprising Facts about Ripasso
Ripasso is not a grape variety, but rather a winemaking process, made famous in Italy. This sends the wine into a second fermentation and gives the wine more tannins, body, flavour, and alcohol. You’ll find my top 10 Ripasso reviews and ratings here. 5 Surprising Facts about Ripasso: 1. The wine of Valpolicella, made from a combination of native Italian grapes most commonly Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara, is re-passed over the leftover grape skins and seeds of the wine, also known as its pomace. 2. Some refer to the Ripasso style of wine as a “baby amarone,” more powerful than […]
10 Best Valpolicella Wines to Buy Now + 5 Surprising Facts about Valpolicella
Valpolicella, like Chianti, is a style of wine from a specific region of Italy bearing the name Valpolicella. Valpolicella is not an actual grape variety. You’ll find my most recent Valpolicella reviews and ratings here. 5 Surprising Facts about Valpolicella: The grapes that are typically used to make Valpolicella include Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara. The area known as Valpolicella is a part of the greater wine region known as the Veneto and is inside the province of Verona, in the North East of Italy. Valpolicella labels can give you clues as to what wine you can expect from the wine […]
10 Best Carignan Wines to Buy Now + 5 Surprising Facts about Carignan
It’s hard to imagine that the Carignan grape used to play such a big role in France’s wine history, yet most wine drinkers have never heard of Carignan. Today, this red wine grape is mostly used as a blending wine, known for its rich dark color. You’ll find my Top 10 Carignan reviews and ratings here. 5 Surprising Facts about Carignan: 1. In France, Carignan was the most planted grape variety from the 1960s to 2000. In fact, in the late 90s there were more than 150,000 acres of Carignan vines planted in France. 2. Why so popular? Two words: large […]
10 Best Barbera Wines to Buy Now + 5 Surprising Facts about Barbera
Barbera is both the name of a grape and of the red wine it produces. Its ancestral home is in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy, from the vineyards around the towns of Asti, Alexandria and Casale Monferrato. You’ll find my Top 10 Barbera reviews and ratings here. 5 Surprising Facts about Barbera: 1. Unlike Barolo and Barberesco, Barbera is not considered a classic grape. It is Italy’s most common red grape. 2. In 1985 Barbera producers added methanol to their wines. Thirty people died as a result, and many were left with affected sight including blindness. The fallout from bad […]