Internationally renowned sommelier and wine writer Natalie MacLean has no sour grapes about her personal pedigree. The author of Red, White and Drunk All Over, and Unquenchable; a Tipsy Quest for the World’s Best Bargain Wines uncorks her Celtic heritage in our Seven Celtic Questions. What are your own Celtic roots? Both my mother, Ann Estelle (MacDonald) MacLean, of Baddeck, Nova Scotia, Canada, and my father, John MacLean of Mabou, Nova Scotia, are Celtic. The only non-Scot was my grandmother, who was a Brophy of Irish origin, so the family line is 100 per cent Celtic-grown. I was born in […]
Wine Articles
Canadian Restaurant Mobile App by Top Food Critics
By Anne DesBrisay Last spring, I opened an email from John Gilchrist, Calgary’s pre-eminent food writer, asking if I’d be interested in contributing the Ottawa section to a cross-Canada restaurant app he was working on. It was to be a first of its kind, geared to the business traveller, a catalogue of best places to eat as chosen by the leading restaurant critics in eleven cities across Canada. Its working title was Dining in Downtown Canada … good places to eat within a walk or cab from major hotels in our major cities. The idea was simple: you’re in Saskatoon, […]
Ontario Produces Such Great Wines – Maclean’s Magazine
This story about Ontario wines by Jessica Allen in Maclean’s Magazine deserves to be shared widely: she makes some excellent points about Ontario wines … By I spent American Thanksgiving with friends in Washington D.C. They’re enthusiastic wine drinkers and the last time they visited this side of the border they couldn’t contain their excitement over a variety of Niagara wines they’d enjoyed. So, I brought along a couple to share. They did not disappoint. But I did: when they asked me how it’s possible that cold Ontario could produce such standouts, I babbled on about Southern Ontario being on […]
Want a wine bargain? Consider South Africa and Canada – Providence Journal
Looking for some wine advice for Thanksgiving? Or any part of the holiday season? Check out Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest for the World’s Best Bargain Wines now in paperback. In it, sommelier and award-winning wine writer Natalie MacLean shares her expertise to reveal wines that aren’t commonly considered but that many will find stunning. Basically, these wines are affordable because demand doesn’t drive up their prices. Argentinean Malbec, for example, doesn’t have the cachet or brand awareness of Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot, so producers have to compete aggressively on price. Its flavor falls somewhere between the two noble red grapes. […]
Iconic Voices in Unquenchable – Fairmont Magazine
Meet top authors as part of the Random House Iconic Voices series at select Fairmont Hotels, including Natalie MacLean (Unquenchable: a Tipsy Quest for the World’s Best Bargain Wines) and Clarissa Dickson Wright (A History of English Food). You can read more reviews of my new wine book Unquenchable here.
Women’s Executive Network Wine Tasting
I’m looking forward to hosting a wine tasting at the Women’s Executive Network Summit on Wednesday. More than 500 power drinkers … should be fun! Here are the speakers throughout the summit … an inspiring group of women and topics. Canada’s Most Powerful Women Summit Speakers Arlene Dickinson CEO & Owner Venture Communications Arlene Dickinson is a judge on CBC’s Dragons’ Den, the television phenomenon that has ignited a national conversation about entrepreneurs in Canada. Dickinson — aggressive but fair, kind but practical, serious but fun — is the show’s marketing expert, its lone female judge, and one of […]
How to Taste Wine in 5 Steps Video
In this video, I read a few short sections from Unquenchable, including the parts about meeting Wolf Blass in Australia and Charles Back in South Africa. We also do a quick wine tasting with the 5 steps to tasting wine. It’s tongue-in-cheek but will give you the basics for getting more from each glass. What’s your favourite wine for tasting, or drinking? You can also watch a shorter wine video of the Airmiles Gold event at Willow Park Wine & Spirits. 10801 Bonaventure Dr SE Calgary, Alberta T2J 6Z8 Phone: 403.296.1640 http://willowpark.net
Italian Wine Tasting with Airmiles at Willow Park Wine & Spirits
It was a spectacular evening of Italian wine and food this past weekend at Willow Park Wine & Spirits in Calgary, Canada’s largest wine store. More than 450 Airmiles Gold Members came out for two evenings, the largest wine and food events that Airmiles has ever hosted. Here’s a short clip from the evening. We’ll post the longer version tomorrow. Below are the wines we tasted… Barone Ricasoli Rocca Guicciarda Riserva Chianti Classico 2007, Tuscany, Italy Generous, even and balanced with classic dark fruit, sun-dried tomato and mouth-watering acidity. Medium- to full-bodied with smooth texture. Perfect for […]
Southern Ontario Sommelier Alliance Picks Best Ontario Wines
There are some incredibly fascinating insights about the Ontario wine industry in this new report from the Southern Ontario Sommelier Alliance (SOSA), published exclusively here first. The top sommeliers working in Ontario’s most respected fine dining restaurants provide their opinions on the best wines in Ontario. Is your favourite wine here? If you buy wine, read on to create your insider shopping list. If you make wine, review this report to see what the top influencers are saying about your wines.This expert guide sets the bar high and the provincial wine industry is up to the challenge. Winner of the […]
First Wine Competition: Southern Ontario Sommelier Alliance
Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the Southern Ontario Sommelier Alliance as well as how the competition was organized and the scoring system. I must say that I was impressed with the level of professionalism and thorough evaluation of the wines involved. Read the results of the wine competition here. I look forward to more great initiatives from this group that will support the Ontario wine industry. What would you like to see this group do? What Is SOSA? SOSA is, the Southern Ontario Sommelier Alliance. We are a group of Certified Sommeliers, educated in Ontario, certified by both the Canadian […]
