A toast to Véronique Rivest who won the Best Canadian Sommelier Competition in Halifax on September 17, as well as to the finalists, Will Predhomme and Élyse Lambert. Semi-finalists included Bruce Wallner, Robert Noel and Bertrand Eichel. They all participated in extensive written exams, blind tasting, wine list correction and an hour-long simulated restaurant service in front of a live audience in their second language. You can watch two video interviews about the sommelier competition with semi-finalist Bruce Wallner. Winner Véronique Rivest Les Fougères Restaurant Chelsea, Quebec Congrats to our hometown gal on her extraordinary win: we are so […]
Wine Articles
Wine and Women Go Hand in Hand – National Post
By Hollie Shaw Wolfgang Blass says women are his long time weakness and the secret to his success. In a recent interview with the thrice-married raconteur behind Australia’s Wolf Blass wine label, females were a frequent topic, both for a good bon mot — he repeats his oft-quoted trope, that his wines “make strong women weak, and weak men strong” — and detailing a canny business strategy. Mr. Blass, 78, was in Toronto last week to support the brand’s extensive film festival sponsorship, and chronicled how he left war-torn Germany at age 23 to pursue winemaking. Now the fourth largest […]
Wine Quotes Part 5: Wit, Wine and Whimsy
Here’s the latest batch of wine wit and scribblings that folks have sent me. Love the irreverence in some of these … You’ll find Round 4 of the wine quotes here.
Wolf Blass Wine Tasting Full Video with Wines Tasted
You can watch the video below of the whole Wolf Blass wine tasting in Ottawa and taste along with us. The full-house had a great vibe that night … not a drop of pretentious stuffiness that sometimes tries to substitute for lack of personality at these events. Yet attendees felt that they had learned a lot, per their comments below… I was so impressed that the 220 folks who attended the two events made a serious commitment to be there, about $100 by the time they paid for parking, unlike free events. There were another 70 tickets waitlisted, so it’s […]
Wolf Blass Wine Tasting in Ottawa, 2 Videos
The excitement for the Ottawa Wolf Blass tasting started with a long lineup that snaked down the sidewalk in front of Restaurant 18. The great vibe from the people who attended, Wolf’s rascal humour and the tasty wines made it a wonderful evening. Here’s more on that plus two video clips from CTV News below … Wolf loves women … I couldn’t find any pictures of him with men :) I couldn’t keep up with the tweets during the event, but it was lovely to see how much people enjoyed themselves with the comments […]
Wolf Blass Wine Tasting: An Unforgettable Evening
What a spectacular evening we had in Toronto last week at the Wolf Blass tasting! A full-house of 90 guests packed the waterside restaurant Against the Grain. As I interviewed Wolf about his experiences, we tasted his wines and some delicious tapas. More details on the event as well as the Canada AM clip below … Here’s the clip from Canada AM … Wolf has a great sense of humour and such a long history in the wine industry. Wolf talks about the wines we’re tasting as did the current winemaker Chris Hatcher. […]
An Unforgettable Evening of Wine, Laughter and Storytelling
Join Natalie MacLean and Wolf Blass in Toronto Sept 10 and Ottawa Sept 17 for a tasting of 12 Wolf Blass wines, a range of sumptuous tapas dishes prepared by Toronto’s award-winning Against the Grain Restaurant and a personally signed copy of Natalie’s book Unquenchable. Natalie MacLean, named the World’s Best Wine Writer at the World Food Media Awards, will interview one of the most witty, provocative and colourful characters from her book Unquenchable: Wolf Blass of Wolf Blass Wines Australia. Yes, this is the man who once described his Red Label Shiraz as “the leg opener,” but he’s also […]
Pairing Wine and Dessert with a Sommelier and Wine Importer
Andrew von Teichman This interview was published in a recent edition of my column in Homefront Maagzine. Andrew von Teichman, Toronto sommelier, winemaker and wine importer, talks about wines to pair with summer desserts. You’re a sommelier by training, but now own a winery and wine agency. Why did you go into those fields? My father was a co-founder of Pelee Island Winery in southwestern Ontario, so I had a chance to work in the vineyards and cellar during high school summers. I wasn’t forced to do this; I just decided to apply for a job there one summer and […]
Decanter Magazine Review of Unquenchable
Peter Mayle is named by Natalie MacLean in the same sentence as Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges as one of her influences. I approached Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest for the World’s Best Bargain Bottles with caution, but MacLean is actually excellent company. Brought up in poverty, the last in a long line of alcoholics and a former competitive highland dancer, she rollicks around the world’s vineyards flirting with Wolf Blass, gaping at the slopes of the Mosel, chuckling with growers in Provence, reminding us every few pages of how much she likes to drink. There are useful gobbets of history […]
Drinking and Wine Quotes Part 4: A Literary Laugh
Round three of these drinking and wine quotes is here. Dorothy Parker is standing at the open coffin of a writer who has recently passed away. A friend remarks, “Doesn’t he look wonderful?” “Why shouldn’t he?” Parker replied, “He hasn’t had a drink in three days.” “First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald “Alcohol may be man’s worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy.” ― Frank Sinatra “After the first glass, you see things as you wish they were. After the second, you see things […]
