Introduction Are you curious about what’s behind the covers of my book, Red, White and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass, which you’ll hear me refer to as “RWD”? In this episode, I’m inviting you to pull up your most comfortable imaginary chair for a secret book club reading of the juiciest bits of RWD, which was named one of the best books of the year by the Globe and Mail, New York Times and Amazon. Highlights When did I have my first experience with tasting good wine? What were my earliest interactions with wine like? […]
Taste Wine
Flying with Flavour: Travel and Wine Stories with Stephanie Piché (Video)
Our guest this evening is Stephanie Piché, Dining & Travel Expert, Founder of Legacy Service Academy and Podcast Host & Producer of “Flying For Flavour“ Click on the “Follow” and “Like” buttons on this Facebook page to get notified when we go live. Click on the arrow above to hear Stephanie’s story. Want to know when we go live with our next guest? Click on “Get Reminder” on the page below: www.nataliemaclean.com/live Click on “Get Notified” at the link above to know when we go live. You can also click on “Follow” and “Like” buttons to know when we make […]
Dr. Gary Pickering’s Supertaster Wine Kit and Mouthfeel Wheel (Video)
Our guest this evening is a Professor of Wine Science and researcher at Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute, in Niagara. He holds a doctorate in Wine Science from Lincoln University in Canterbury. His focus is on wine flavour and sensory science. He has published more than 100 papers, patents, book chapters and conference proceedings. He is the inventor of the white wine mouthfeel wheel and the supertasting kit, and is co-developer of the Wine Aroma Kits. He’s the recipient of a number of research awards, and is passionate about wine education, and of course, wine. And he […]
Wine Tasting Event Brings Together Top Writers and Sommeliers
During our team tasting this past Sunday, our nation’s top wine writers and sommeliers gathered to taste more than 70 wines throughout the day, with different members attending at different times. You’ll find all of our reviews, scores and tasting notes here. Many of these reviews are published in the magazines and newspapers to which our team contributes. Some members use this as an opportunity to find wines to feature on the television or radio segments. The LCBO also often uses the reviews posted here to publish in their LCBO Vintages Magazine. Our next team tastings will be May 6, […]
What are the Latest Trends in Social Media and Wine (Video)?
You won’t want to miss our live video chat with Julien Miquel, talking about the Latest Trends in Social Media and Wine! Join us Sunday, March 11 at 6 pm EST right here (click on this link below): www.nataliemaclean.com/live Click on the “Follow” and “Like” buttons on this Facebook page to get notified when we go live. Click on the arrow above to hear Julien’s story about becoming an International Wine Expert – Winemaker. Watch previous episodes of the Sunday Sipper Club (SSC) and find out who’s coming up next. Julien Miquel After a 10-year winemaking career […]
Getting Graphic with Wine and Madeline Puckette of Wine Folly
Would you like to learn more about wine regions, but find it difficult to keep them all straight? We know that tasting wine is a great way to learn about it, but did you know that the power of visuals can really accelerate your learning? That’s exactly what we’re going to learn tonight with our guest who joins me live from Seattle. Our guest this evening is Madeline Puckette, author of the New York times best-selling book Wine Folly! Click on the arrow above to watch the video. P.S. Join us Sunday November 5, at 6 pm eastern with Dr. […]
Errazuriz Wines: Chile’s Cool Climate Grapes Shine
This is the first in a series of team tastings by top reviewers in our community, most of whom are graduates of either the Algonquin College Sommelier Program or La Cite Collegiale Sommelier Program. They share with us their overall impressions from the tasting, as well as reviews of each of the wines presented. You’ll also find their reviews shared on Twitter and Facebook as they are all very active on social media. “The Errazuriz wine tasting at Daly’s restaurant in Ottawa on September 26th was an absolute treat. Francisco Baettig, head winemaker at Errazuriz, is a supremely knowledgeable and […]
What is Wine’s Role in Modern Madness? Finding Our Humanity Drop by Drop
Editor’s Note: I wrote this magazine piece on wine and civility two months after 9/11. You can also listen to this as a podcast here. In Vino Civilitatis The trouble with moderation is that it’s hard to get excited about it. Until now. After September 11, moderation seems to be rarer than a California cult cabernet. Finding the moderate and the civilized in everyday life has become all the rage. Few things embody these values more than wine, and the food we eat with it. A river of wine flows through most of human history — from the ancient clay […]
Plonk Wine Videos Stumble Blindly into Brilliant Insight
In his book How to Love Wine, New York Times wine columnist Eric Asimov observes: “I’m sometimes dismayed that sommeliers confuse their professional training with what consumers need to know to enjoy wine. We don’t need to know whether you can identify wines blind. “Those are just parlor games for professionals. I think that professionals, like sommeliers, need to be able to communicate with the public in a language that they understand and that they find useful.” When I tasted wines blind with Eric at the paper’s headquarters several years ago, he lived those words. The blind tasting was to […]
How to Taste Wine Like a Pro at a Winery or Restaurant
On CTV’s The Social yesterday, we chatted about how to get the most from your winery visit, including what to bring, what to ask and how to spit your wine. You can watch the full video here. However, when you’re at home, please don’t spit the two lovely wines that I selected for this show: Rosehall Run Pinot Noir and Viewpointe Auxerrois ;) I absolutely love it when there’s a strong reaction to any segment we do on The Social: it means we’re engaged and passionate about wine! When I mention that there shouldn’t be sediment floating around in your […]
