Canada’s top wine writers and sommeliers gathered in our nation’s capital recently for a tasting of Casas del Bosque Chilean wines with head winemaker, Grant Phelps. Grant’s presentation style is a perfect blend of wit and education. Monique Sosa Wine Columnist, Ottawa Family Living Magazine Have you ever met someone when, after hearing them speak for like five minutes, you think, “What a smart dude, and funny too!” Imagine meeting a winemaker like that. It sure made a portfolio of wine tasting both refreshing and fun. Our group of Ottawa-based sommeliers and wine writers got a real treat meeting Casas del Bosque’s […]
Wine Articles
Kim Crawford Wines: Blending Passion and Place
In the video above, Kim Crawford Winemaker Anthony Walkenhorst explains how blending works at the winery as we try our own hand at it. Canada’s top wine writers and sommeliers met in our nation’s capital recently for a fascinating tasting, and blending exercise, with Kim Crawford wines. Jennifer MacDonald Havers Wine Columnist, Ottawa Citizen Upon entering a beautiful dining room at Courtyard restaurant, our group knew our tasting with Kim Crawford wines was going to be a unique experience. A huge table set with multiple glasses, all but one at each setting containing a sample of […]
Best Turkey Wine for Holiday Dinner? Not One But Many Wines – Reuters
While this terrific article talks about matching wine with Thanksgiving turkey, the tips are just as valid with it comes to Christmas/holiday turkey dinner … Thanksgiving, the holiday that anyone who likes to eat loves to celebrate, is just a week away and experts agree there is not one perfect wine to accompany the feast, but many. “No other holiday celebrates the gift of wine like Thanksgiving,” said Natalie MacLean, author of the new book, “Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest for the World’s Best Bargain Wines.” “Wine is a taste of the harvest along with all the delicious dishes on the […]
Tania’s Magical Matches: Wine Pairings for Thanksgiving Turkey
By Tania Thomas Thanksgiving is the time of the year when we remember what we are thankful for and a celebration that captures holiday spirit of home cooking like no other. Sharing this day with family and friend is what makes it even more special. The origins of Canadian Thanksgiving can be traced to two separate events in our history. The arrival of the explorer Samuel de Champlain in the early 17th century, who came with the French settlers to New France and celebrated their successful harvests, even sharing food with the indigenous peoples of the area. The second is […]
Red, White and Blue Rodeo: Jim Cuddy launches his own Wine with Tawse Winery
Jim Cuddy, lead singer and guitarist of the band Blue Rodeo, didn’t grow up in a wine-drinking family. In fact, his first alcoholic drink of choice was beer. “When you start playing in bars, you get paid in beer,” Cuddy explains. “At first, I was excited: free beer! But after five years, I couldn’t take any more beer. That’s when I got into wine.” And into it he is. Cuddy has partnered with Niagara’s Tawse Winery to create a new wine brand, Cuddy by Tawse. “Moray and Joanne Tawse are friends of mine,” Cuddy says. “I had played at their winery […]
Top 100 Wine Blogs: New Ranking from Feedspot
Feedspot, which replaced Google’s RSS live feed for blog updates last year, has just published a new report on the Top 100 Wine Blogs. A friend nudged me about it on Twitter, as it’s not something you can enter. According to the editors of Feedspot: In the world of wine, these are the best of the best wine blogs who run their craft and work hardest to improve the entire wine industry. They are the most influential to both the trade and consumers. Their voices influence thousands of other wine personalities and tens of thousands of wine professionals. These wine blogs […]
A Tale of Two Niagara Wineries: Ravine Wines Have Deep Roots
By Trish Kroeger As a relatively new lifestyle and travel photographer, the opportunities I’m about to embark on while visiting far away destinations and delightful wineries will undoubtedly be the envy of many wine connoisseurs. Luckily for me as a proud Canadian, I will never have to venture too far away from home to experience the thrill of visiting world class wineries and meeting passionate and inspirational people along the way. So it made perfect sense to me, with the imminent end of summer fast approaching, that I grab my camera and head off to the most picturesque place I […]
Wine Talk on Bell Media’s New TV Show “The Drink”
By Alex Powell & Priya Rao, A Vine Romance It’s finally here–August 2nd brings the launch of our new show for Bell Media called, The Drink. In it we explore the best that Toronto has to offer in terms of beer, sake, scotch, cocktails and of course, wine! In fact, one of our 4 episodes in dedicated to this glorious beverage from Mother Nature! The episode is called, quite appropriately, “Calling All Wine-o’s!” In it we visit a super high-tech private wine storage facility, we trace the roots of a bottle of wine in a vineyard-to-restaurant segment, Alex breaks down how to taste […]
Merroir, it’s a Thing. A Tasty, Tasty Thing; Wine and Oyster Pairings
By Rebecca Meïr-Liebman of Chef & Somm Photos by Signe Langford Oenophiles have always understood the concept of terroir; food- lovers are grasping this taste of place, too.Ingredients are just as terroir-driven as wine, sometimes the connection to the soil, sun, and air is even more pronounced in a cheese or a cacao bean than in a particular wine! And, what if that taste of place –or terroir– is underwater? Well, until I met with Patrick McMurray, author, oyster expert and shucking champion, I was unaware of how much terroir- or, rather, merroir-driven these beautiful bivalves are. Joining him at his […]
Is Zinfandel the World’s Most Misunderstood Wine?
ZINZEN, ZINZEST, ZINFUL: The licence plates in the parking lot warn me that this is no tweedy wine tasting. Closer to the wharves, a line of three thousand people, thick as an anaconda, snakes its way along San Francisco’s waterfront. Behind them soars the Golden Gate Bridge; Alcatraz Island sits brooding in the distance; and the glinting bay is dotted with tiny tissue sails. But no one’s admiring the postcard view: all eyes are fixed on the warehouse’s paint-peeled doors, waiting for them to open on the Zinfandel Advocates and Producers tasting, the world’s largest single-varietal wine event according to […]
