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 […]
Wine Articles
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. […]
Celebrating Canadian Wine and Cheese with Great Pairings
One of our lead writers, Matt Steeves, chats with Leanne on CTV’s Morning Live Show about great Canadian wine and cheese pairings featured in The Great Canadian Wine Match. Well done Matt! You can also watch clips from CTV News, Global Television and CBC News with more pairings, as well as radio interviews on Sirius XM, syndicated nationally on satellite, and CJAD, Montreal’s most popular talk show. Celebrating Canadian Wine and Cheese with Great Pairings Leanne: We are going to celebrate with some good Champagne and we’re going to do it Canadian style. Joining us from […]
Matching Cheese and Wine for Entertaining
Sirius XM talk show hosts Christine, Kate and Sharon and I chat about The Great Canadian Wine & Cheese Match in the clip above (click on the arrow to listen) You can also watch clips from CTV News, Global Television, CBC News and CTV Morning Live with more pairings, as well as a radio interview on CJAD, Montreal’s most popular talk show. Matching Cheese and Wine for Entertaining Christine: Hi there, I’m Christine Bentley and I don’t think Kate Millers going to let me say one word here because we are talking about wine with Natalie MacLean. Hi there Natalie! […]
How to Read a Wine List, Vertical Tastings and Sommelier Sips
Ryan Campbell, formerly sommelier at Toronto’s Crush Wine Bar, now works with the wine lists at the parent company, Vintage Hotels in Niagara. Wine is such a big part of your restaurant, how do you ensure that your staff, who aren’t sommeliers, are still knowledgeable? We hold an informal “wine school” once a month for about 15 staff members. For the last class, we focused on chardonnay with a vertical tasting. Vertical tastings mean one type of wine, like chardonnay, from different producers, but all from the same vintage. A horizontal tasting would be, say chardonnays, all from one producer, […]
