By Jane Staples The September 5th release is all about uncorking a great wine. A great bottle of wine is like a great painting; so much goes into creating it and the final product is a work of art. Like a painter working with colour and canvas, the winemaker works with the soil, the vines, the harvest and the oak, making decisions about blending and aging along the way. Uncorking a great bottle of wine can kick off a great conversation. Some wine lovers enjoy discussing the terroir and winemaking techniques, or the history of a particular region. Others are […]
Wine Articles
Free-Spirited New Zealand Tasting Pairs Nobilo Wines with Adventurous Foods
Photo Credit: Melissa Pulvermacher By Melissa Pulvermacher A huge trend in the Canadian wine market right now is not only New Zealand wines, but more specifically, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc with its grassy notes and aromas of gooseberry and tropical fruit. It’s been pretty easy to identify for consumers and the demand from the LCBO is still on the incline. Trends exist for multiple reasons, but there is something to be said about a wine that easily identifies with a large group of people. A beautiful aromatic wine that finishes refreshing and clean obviously isn’t very difficult for everyone to enjoy. […]
ApéroChic: A Touch Of France in the Heart Of Toronto’s Nightlife
Once a month, ApéroChic takes over a prestigious, hip and happening nightclub in downtown Toronto … and the events never cease to disappoint those lucky enough to be on the exclusive guest list. Two lovely ladies from France, Peggy Harvey and Estelle , who now live in Toronto, created this club in 2011. They’re the masterminds who organize these cosmopolitan post-work soirees with an elegant French twist to bring together on average more than 400 people to each event. Now well-entrenched in Toronto’s social scene, ApéroChic events have become among some of the most must-be-seen evenings in the city. The […]
Pairing Wine and Social Media: Engagement in a Glass of its Own
On CBC radio drive-home shows across Canada yesterday, we discuss how social media is changing the way we discover new wines and share them with others. Click on the arrow above to listen to the clip. You can also watch this Google + video hangout that I did with the Californian-based wine consultant Paul Mabray several years ago on Digital Darwinism for the Wine Industry. The concepts have aged well and still hold true now. Do you find social media useful for discovering new wines? If so, which one in particular: Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, Google +, LinkedIn or […]
La Ferme Du Mont Wines: Harvesting Grapes for Energy
By Mymi The Singing Sommelier You open a bottle of wine, pour yourself a glass, sniff, and slowly take it in… While sipping, it’s natural to focus on the flavors of the wine and how the alcohol feels floating through your veins, but how often do you get the chance to taste a wine with the person who actually made it? I was thrilled to have that opportunity and enjoy a luncheon organized by Eurovintage with Stéphane Vedeau, vigneron from “La Ferme Du Mont” in the Southern part of Les Côtes du Rhône. His estate is comprised of 50 hectares […]
Why Uber Taxi is Good for Wine Drinkers
Call it what you want: the taxi version of Air B&B, ride sharing, or transport company, but Uber is changing the way we get from place to place. I’ve been using it for a month and recommend it, especially for those of us who love wine. Go to my invite at the link below to get a free first ride of up to $20 in value to try it: https://www.uber.com/invite/nataliem2213ue Better to download the app now rather than when you actually need it (and are all thumbs ;) Why? – If you’ve had one too many glasses of wine, it’s […]
Kim Crawford Wine Pairs Well with Milestones and Birthdays
By Melissa Pulvermacher A 25th birthday should be celebrated with several bottles of wine and a great dinner. That’s exactly how the summer-long festivities began for Milestones at their Dundas Square location in Toronto, with General Manager André Barrett, Head Chef Jason Rosso and Kim Crawford’s New Zealand Portfolio Director Matthew Deller. As expected, Rosso hit it out of the park immediately with a table full of Crab Salad Crostini, Crispy Halibut Tacos and Mini Spinach Dip Taco Bowls. The food was on the table, but a great meal needs wine pairings to take it to the next level. Matt […]
Weddings: Champagne & Wine for the Happy Couple
This interview with James Tidwell, Master Sommelier was published as one of my columns in Four Seasons Resorts Magazine. James has lots of terrific tips … Champagne is the ultimate drink of celebration, especially at weddings, according to James Tidwell, Master Sommelier at Four Seasons’ Cafe on the Green in Las Colinas, Texas. “Champagne toasts many milestones in life,” Tidwell says, “but one of the most important is the dedication of two people to spend a life together.” We asked Tidwell for his insights on how champagne makes a wedding more memorable at the resort. James Tidwell, Master Sommelier How […]
The Right Temperature for Wine? Chilled Reds, Warmer Whites
What is the right temperature for wine? Depends on if the wine is red, white, sparkling or dessert. However, all wine is often served at the wrong temperature, with red wines too warm and white wines too cold. Too cold, and a wine’s complexity and aromas are numbed; too warm, and it tastes alcoholic, flabby and astringent (that mouth-drying feeling we get from walnuts). The old advice about serving reds at “room temperature” comes from the days when the “room” was a drafty medieval castle of about 18 degrees Celsius (64.4° Farenheit), not today’s toasty, centrally heated homes where the […]
10 Best Champagne Wines to Buy Now + 5 Surprising Facts about Champagne
The sparkling wine Champagne is named after the northern region of France where it’s produced. Other regions of France, as well as other countries, make sparkling wine, but only those from Champagne may be called Champagne. You’ll find my most recent Champagne reviews and ratings here. 5 Surprising Facts about Champagne: 1. Supposedly the eighteenth-century blind Benedictine monk, Dom Pérignon, accidentally discovered how to put the bubbles in Champagne when his wines started fermenting again in the spring after the cold winter had stopped them. Other records attribute this discovery to the British scientist Christopher Merret thirty years before Pérignon. […]
