When we decided to make reservations at Atelier Restaurant in Ottawa, we discovered that we’d have to wait several weeks for a Friday evening reservation. Such is the popularity of this award-winning restaurant that specializes in molecular gastronomy, and is one of my favourite restaurants in this city and across the country. I had written a profile of the superb sommelier Steve Robinson several months ago for Ottawa Magazine, the sister publication of Toronto Life. Now it was time to revisit and try the new summer menu with Steve’s pairings. It was spectacular, with whimsical dish names like “You’ve Got […]
Wine Articles
1000 Islands Wine & Food Festival
What better way to enjoy a weekend than with a visit to a beautiful waterfront community, a fiesta with some friendly faces, and a good glass of your favourite wine? And that’s just what The Volunteer Centre of St. Lawrence-Rideau is offering the weekend on June 14th and 15th in picturesque Brockville, Ontario at the fourth annual 1000 Islands Wine and Food Festival. This delicious event is taking place at the Brockville Memorial Centre, and is working in partnership with Brockville’s Tall Ships Festival and 1000 Islands Jazz Festival, making this one weekend event you do not want to miss! […]
1000 Islands Wine & Food Festival
Something for everyone at the festival! Is your spouse a wine fan? Spend the weekend in Brockville and take in the 1000 Islands Wine & Food Festival so they can enjoy themselves and sample some of the delicious wines provided by our exhibitors this year. For lovers of beer and spirits, the festival is pleased to provide options in this area as well. Stop by the festival before or after attending some of the other great events taking place that weekend (such as the Tall Ships Festival), and the 1000 Islands Jazz Festival. What better to go with your wine, […]
Best Canadian Wines with Chicken: Zoomer Magazine
Here’s my recent column in Zoomer Magazine about The Great Canadian Wine Match with the finalists for the best Canadian wine with chicken. Just 4 days left to vote! Posted with permission of Zoomer Magazine.
LCBO Vintages Wine Tasting Bars Toronto and Oakville
Here’s a list of LCBO stores in Toronto and Oakville that offer regular tastings of premium wines. I’ll update this as I get new lists of the wines on offer. You may also want to inquire about the classes held at these stores that provide additional opportunities to taste more wines. Here are the wine tastings in Ottawa and Gatineau (SAQ). I find it doesn’t take long to taste the wines and I fit it in when I’m doing errands in the neighbourhood where the store is located. There is a minimum fee to taste the wines that varies […]
Best Places to Learn About Wine: Toronto Star
We were thrilled to be featured on the front page of the Toronto Star recently in a story on the best places to learn about wine, along with George Brown College which offers the sommelier certificate program and The Independent Wine Education Guild that teaches the respected Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET) courses. Want to expand your wine knowledge but can’t afford the classes? Sign up for Natalie MacLean’s free e-newsletter and learn all about finding the best wines for your taste and budget. Natalie is a certified sommelier and has been named the World’s Best Wine Writer. Her […]
Posting Wine Reviews and Tasting Notes: Quick Tips
Here’s how to post your wine reviews and use the site features to share them with friends, create your own tasting journal and track your progress over time. Let me know if you have other tips to add here. You’ll also find tips on writing wine reviews. Here’s a short video to get you set-up quickly and optimize your profile: Quick Start: How do I post a wine review? First, download this custom wine toolbar for your browser to make finding wines and adding reviews fast. It works on all browsers except Safari, so if you use that one, skip […]
Wine Reviews and Tasting Notes
Here are some quick tips on writing wine reviews and tasting notes. I’ll be adding new tips to this list regularly. Got one to add? Please post it below. You can also find tips on posting your reviews on this site and how to get the most of the site features to organize your reviews. Have fun! Cheers, Natalie What information should be in every tasting note? The smell and taste of the wine are essential: aromas and flavours. This doesn’t have to be elaborate, but it gives people a sense of the style of the wine. The Wine Aroma […]
Wine Magazine Video: Canadian Food + Wine Contest
In the video below, I chat with Theresa, editor of Great Wine News Magazine, about The Great Canadian Wine Match, now in the last day for nominations for your favourite wines. The competition has been fierce, but so has the fun as wine lovers from coast to coast rally behind their most-loved wines. Get your final nominations and votes in today before we move to the finalist showdown phase!
Wine Blogger Conference Comes to Canada
In two weeks, the city of Penticton, BC will be flooded with intrepid wine bloggers swarming the area with glasses in one hand and iphones in the other, tweeting and instagraming the Okanagan Valley into Internet fame. In case you haven’t heard of it, the Wine Bloggers Conference is a combination press junket, wine expo, and MacWorld, with shades of Meetup in between. After five years in the States, the Wine Bloggers Conference will finally cross the Canadian border, and Penticton organizers are working in overdrive to make sure the blogger’s impressions are favorable. There is still time to register […]
