Excerpted from the New York Times Shopping for wine is a lot like parenting a teenager. You feel stupid when you’re in the middle of it, and when you finally emerge, you’re desperately ready for a drink. There is, alas, no app for raising teenagers. But mobile software developers have begun aiming at oenophiles, and in so doing, they have established one of the more useful categories of wireless apps. Appropriately enough, choosing the right one can be puzzling and tedious. Some of the refined entries in the current vintage include Cor.kz ($4), Wine Enthusiast Guide ($5), Nat Decants Food […]
Serving Wine
Summer Wines
We asked sommelier, writer, and four-time Beard Award winner Natalie MacLean to tell us her favorite summertime wines that don’t cost an arm and a leg. Best Patio Sipper: Ca’ Del Solo Vineyard Muscat 2007 (Monterey, CA): Medium-bodied and slightly off-dry white. About $17. Best Poolside Chiller: Nobilo Regional Collection Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2006 (New Zealand): Pure grassy goodness! About $16. Best Barbecue Quaffer: Peter Lehmann Shiraz Grenache 2005 (Australia): A full-bodied palate-whacker of a wine. About $15.
Investing in Wine
Buy now, drink later Prices for great wine are soaring. But by ordering tomorrow’s best bottles today, you can ensure you’ll never go thirsty.By Pamela Young If you are passionate about wine, well-supplied with cash, and very, very patient, now may be the right time to stock up on Château Ausone 2005. Ordering this blue-chip Bordeaux on the “futures” market while it is still aging in the barrel will set you back $1,395 a bottle, or $16,740 a case. Of course, you won’t be able to collect this robust yet ethereal red at your local liquor store until 2008 — […]
Bargain Wines 2
Name: Natalie MacLean Occupation: Nat Decants Wine Newsletter Holiday challenge: “I write about wine so most people expect me to serve fairly pricey wines at holiday gatherings and meals, but I don’t have an unlimited budget.” Holiday tip: “I look for the underpriced wines in the liquor store that taste twice as expensive as they cost: Argentine Malbec, South African Sauvignon Blanc and Chilean Cabernet. They’ll save you a bundle on your holiday entertaining and gift-giving.”
Costco & Wine
There’s no question that warehouse clubs offer great prices — for some products, they’re unbeatable. But in other cases, the urge to save could end up costing you. As most penny-pinching consumers know, joining a warehouse club can result in great deals on everything from 46-inch flat-screen TVs to 12-packs of chicken-noodle soup. But that doesn’t mean every product in the rustic aisles of BJ’s, Sam’s Club or Costco is a steal. “You could make the argument that everything in the building is a good deal,” says Michael Clayman, the editor of Warehouse Club Focus, a trade publication. Clubs make […]
Bargain Wines
Forget about having Champagne tastes on a beer-lover’s budget. Costs for almost every step or ingredient used in alcohol production are on the rise, from the price of malting barley for beer to the fuel costs associated with importing foreign wines, says Ilhan Geckil, a senior consultant with Anderson Economic Group, a Chicago-based research firm. And, thanks to consolidation, those rising costs are getting passed onto consumers more quickly. “If two companies represent 80% of the U.S. beer market, that makes it easier for them to put pressure on market prices,” he explains. In addition to high fuel costs, here […]
Budget Wines
There’s nothing that says luxury and the good life more than sitting down on the patio and sipping a glass of good wine on a hot summer’s evening. I used to think that being a Budget Smart Girl meant that I’d either have to forgo this one little pleasure, or be forced to buy a wine that wasn’t that great. However, as the philosophy of the Budget Smart Girl’s lifestyle is to have luxury but at your own price, I did some research and happy to say you can enjoy a great glass of wine at a Budget Smart price, […]
Serving Wine
Raise a glass of great vino with help from Chatelaine’s wine expert Natalie MacLean. Here are her tips to serving – and enjoying – a perfect glass. 1. Decanting Pour wine out of the bottle and into a decanter, which can be a water jug, specially designed wine decanter or another large vessel to soften the wine and clarify it of any remaining sediment (the tiny particles from the grapes). Exposing robust red wines to air softens their harsh tannins, which make them taste smoother. White wines don’t have strong tannins, so they taste best when fresh from the bottle. […]
Braille Labels
Many people rely heavily on the information on wine labels to help them in making a purchasing decision, but what if the consumer is sight-impaired? An item on wine writer Natalie MacLean’s Web site calls attention to several producers who are using Braille on their labels to feature the winemaker, appellation, name of the wine, vintage and whether the wine is red or white. Interestingly, none of the wineries mentioned are in the U.S.The senses of sight, smell and taste all play a role in wine tasting, but this adds another dimension — touch. MacLean also said that a blind […]
Wine, Women and Connection
The July issue of Chatelaine has a terrific article by Anne Kingson on how women connect over wine: it brings them together for conversations (and wine-fuelled confessionals) and connection through shared emotions. She says that women, who now account for 80% of wine purchases, tend to browse when buying wine and are more open than men to trying new things. They’re also far more likely to think of wine-food pairings and other social factors. Recent Stats Can numbers say that white wine sales have increased 50% and red wine sales have doubled largely because of the increase in female buyers. […]
