Our second Ruffino wine tasting took place October 19 at La Cucina Ristorante with another team of our top-notch wine reviewers who share their observations of the wines, pairings and experience below. You’ll find the pictures, videos and notes from the Ocober 18 Ruffino wine tasting here, and reviews of all Ruffino wines here. “The more I drink Italian wines, the more convinced I am that they are made for the purpose of enjoying good food. And when you have the perfect pairing, it gives you the kind of evening we had at the great Italian restaurant La Cucina in […]
Wine Articles
Ruffino Wines: Tasting Italy in a Glass
Our third winemaker dinner team tasting on October 18 featured the wines of the Italian winery Ruffino. Our team did an excellent job of summarizing the wines, food pairings and overall experience of the evening. A second Ruffino wine dinner was held the following night at a different restaurant. You can see all of the Ruffino wine reviews, showing stock at your local liquor store. “Graffiti’s Italian Restaurant in Kanata was the perfect location for a Ruffino tasting dinner with Brand Ambassador Robert Ghezzo. Though dimly lit and boisterous at times, we were nonetheless transported to the Tuscan countryside as […]
Stratus Wine and Food Pairing Dinner with Beckta Cuisine
Stratus Winery hosted a spectacular wine and food tasting dinner in Niagara on September 28 that featured the cuisine of Ottawa restaurateur Steve Beckta’s three establishments: Beckta Dining & Wine, Play and Gezellig. I found that the Stratus wines paired beautifully with partner and executive chef Mike Moffatt and chef de cuisine Katie Brown Ardington’s dishes. Click on the arrow above to play the short Instagram video clip. The missing word at the end is windmill ;) Chef Moffatt is a two-time Gold Medal Plates winner and Katie is a rising star on the Ottawa restaurant scene. This dinner paired […]
Black Hills Winery: Tasting Vintages of a BC Flagship Wine
By Valerie Stride Located on one of the most arid and sunny sites in the Okanagan, Black Hills Estate Winery is abundant in many things – including quality wines. Spread across a 27-acre vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Carmenere, Sauvignon Blanc, and Semillon are carefully grown and handled by the Black Hills team. The microclimate on property, in addition to long hours of sunlight and cool nights, offers this west-facing orientation vineyard added value. The vineyard manager, Steve Carberry, works closely with winemaker Graham Pierce to ensure that the authenticity of Black Hills wines remains bona fide. On October […]
Food and Wine Pairing Book: Inspired by The Flavour Principle
In the video above, two of Canada’s most respected food and drink writers, Lucy Waverman and Beppi Crosariol, discuss their new book The Flavour Principle. It’s packed with delicious recipes that are paired with wine and other drinks, based on 11 key flavour categories. The two writers are also weekly columnists for the Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper. They share their tips on pairing and some surprising insights they discovered while writing the book that make it different from other cookbooks and pairing guides. You’ll question your assumptions about red wine and cheese and find out why texture and […]
Taste Ontario: Wines + Event Make Spectacular Blend
“The evening function for Taste Ontario in Ottawa was beautiful. The Westin outdid itself with food stations all around the ballroom interspersed with ice sculptured bar tables and tree stands. The majestic Chateau Laurier was lit up in the background outside the room-length floor-to-ceiling windows. Music and mingling. Eating and drinking. My favourite pairing of the night was the sauteed shrimp in a rich cream sauce with the Closson Chase Vineyard Chardonnay 2011. The event gave us a chance to talk one-on-one with the owners, representatives and winemakers at some of the best wineries in Ontario. At the Closson Chase […]
Taboo Sommelier Talks: Ontario Wines + Restaurant Wine Lists
Markus Carl is the wine director and sommelier at Taboo Resort, Golf and Spa in Gravenhurst, Ontario, about 90 minutes north of Toronto. Carl shares a range of tips, from which wines to take to the cottage to which ones to drink when listening to Johann Sebastian Bach. While you were growing up, was wine a part of your family’s life? There was certainly wine around as my father had an extensive collection of Bordeaux from the late 1970s and early 1980s, including some Sauternes, that rich dessert wine from the region, which at that age struck me as particularly […]
How to Pick a House Wine: 5 Tips + Why You Need One
You’ve just finished your yoga class with your friend and the two of you agree it would be great to have a glass of wine together. Do you invite her back to your place? If so, which wine to serve? The mother of your child’s playmate arrives to pick up her child. Do you invite her in for some vino? Which one? (Of course, the answer is no if she’s driving … non-alcoholic cider is a great alternative.) The holidays are right around the corner, when unexpected guests will be the norm. Are you ready with your house wine? If […]
Is it You or the Wine? How to Identify Wine Faults
Eyes closed, you breathe deeply, searching for the exotic aromas of pinot noir in your glass. Instead, an acrid smell jabs its way up your nose. This is not the essence of fleshy cherries rolling across on a bed of violets you were expecting. It’s more like burnt matches. Is it you or the wine? It’s probably the wine, but how can you be sure, especially when you’re debating whether or not to send the bottle back in a restaurant? Just as wine can absorb and exude exotic aromas, it can also pick up and give off pungent odours. The […]
3 Insider Wine + Food Pairing Tips, Most Underrated Grape
Wordsmith, wine pro and lifelong highland dancer, Natalie MacLean sat down with Grape Magazine, talking whisky, winter, the world’s greatest wines and the secrets to top-shelf imbibing without breaking the bank. Your Writing Process? I’m a messy writer—if I were a painter, I’d paint a seagull in one corner, then a clump of clover in another corner. I’d splash on the page every impression I have, then edit, edit, edit. Best Wine & Food? The best pairing is between you and a wine you like. But as far as food pairings go, the fun is in experimenting, choosing whether to […]
