Wines for Easter Brunch and Passover Dinner

  CTV News anchor Natalie Piero an I chat about wines for Easter brunch, Passover and other holiday weekend wines. Also check out The Essential Hip-Hop Guide to Easter Wines, which includes pairing ham and wine, lamb and wine, vegetables and wine, and chocolate and wine.     Wines for Easter Brunch and Passover Dinner Natalie Piero: Passover starts tonight and of course Easter is coming up this weekend. So Natalie MacLean is here to talk about the best wines to pair with whatever meal you might be serving or having for the holidays. Natalie MacLean: Absolutely, we have a variety of […]

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The Best Spring Wines for Sipping on Decks and Docks

Spring has sprung and as we cast off the heavy sweaters and coats, it’s also time to lighten up our wine wardrobe. On CTV News, we chat about what’s in liquid fashion this season. Can you give us a bit of an overview of what trends we’re seeing in the wine world this spring?   Everything’s coming up Rosé, Riesling and Pinot Grigio! They’re all wines meant to be consumed young, and I do mean the wines not the people. They’re fresh and lively, perfect for spring and throughout the summer.   We’re starting with a German Riesling. Why have […]

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Vine Oscars: Celebrity Wines to Sip During the Show

By Natalie MacLean On CTV’s The Social, we we chat about winemaking movie stars … can you guess who made which wine? When I think of the Oscars, I think wine. Why? For many film industry luminaries, conspicuous consumption such as owning a yacht or even a restaurant is so 2019. These days, if you really want to show some class, you own a winery. There’s no better photo opp than one with you and your trophy wife or boy toy pruning the vines or pressing the grapes.       That’s why movie actors, directors and producers are getting […]

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The Merry Widows of Mousse: Champagne Widows

They were all young women whose families owned the great champagne houses at the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. When they lost their husbands to war or illness, they did not do what was expected: step aside or sell the business.  Nor did they marry again (though they were still in their twenties and thirties), handing over the reins to a new husband. Instead, these celebrated veuves, or widows, took control of their châteaux to produce some of the most prestigious wines in the world – wines that still bear their names: Veuve Clicquot, Pommery, Laurent-Perrier, Roederer and […]

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5 Romantic Wine & Chocolate Matches for Valentine’s Day

Bev and I chat about 5 to-die-for wine and chocolate pairings on Canada AM. Bev: Valentine’s Day is famous for flowers and romance and decadence. Mix in a little vino and a sweet treat and you’ve got quite a celebration. Natalie MacLean is the author of Unquenchable. She’s an expert when it comes to wine pairings, and this morning she’s in our studio to help us choose fine wine and chocolate combinations. Which is so perfect. Does it get any better than that?     Natalie: No, especially if you like to layer your vices. So, don’t just have wine […]

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Music and Wine Pairing: Cabernet in C Major

On CTV’s The Social yesterday, we had so much fun pairing wine and music. This was also the topic on CTV News with Leanne further below. MARCI Welcome back. Would you add heavy metal music to your playlist if someone told you it’d make your wine taste better? Well, our next guest says it’s something you should consider because a growing body of research suggests music may influence the way our brain interprets the flavour of wine. LAINEY Natalie MacLean is the editor of Canada’s largest wine review site and she’s here to put that theory to the test. Welcome […]

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Video: The Ultimate Guide to Pairing Wine and Chocolate

The hosts of CTV’s The Social and I shared lots of scandalous laughs this week pairing wine and chocolate for Valentine’s Day. Click on the arrow above to play the video.          Laurent-Perrier Millésimé Champagne 2007 Champagne A.C., France         What’s you favourite pairing? We love chocolate not just for its taste, but also for its sensual texture. Cocoa butter, one of its main ingredients, melts close to body temperature, so sliding a piece into your mouth and feeling it seep out to coat your tongue can almost be orgasmic. Maybe that why’s the […]

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11 Best Wines to Pair with Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner

No other holiday celebrates the gift of wine like Thanksgiving. But which wines to pair with turkey and all the side dishes? Here with her tips is Natalie MacLean, who offers Canada’s most popular online wine pairing classes at nataliemaclean.com   What’s your top tip when it comes to pairing wine with Thanksgiving dinner?   Wine is a taste of the harvest along with all the delicious dishes on the table. But actually choosing a bottle can feel like a thankless task, especially with so many flavors to match from sweet creamed corn to more bitter greens and veggies, plus […]

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Barbecue Wines for Father’s Day: Best Bottles for Grilled Grub

On CTV’s The Social, we chat about great wines for BBQ fare on Father’s Day. Nat, some dads are just not wine guys, they’re more beer guys. But are you saying these selections you’ve brought today can change that? It’s mostly a perception that wine is for fancier occasions than beer, but that’s just not true. Anytime you think of having a beer, you can probably substitute it with a bubbly. I’m not talking Champagne, but value-priced sparkling wines from other regions. They’re both frothy and fun, like our first wine here.   Great segue! Tell us about the first […]

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Wine’s Salad Daze: The Ultimate Guide to Pairing Wine and Vegetables

On CTV’s Your Morning Yesterday, the network’s national breakfast show, we paired wine with vegetables and spring produce. Click the video above to watch.                       Intro Pairing red wine with a steak is easy, but can you drink that same wine with fresh spring produce, like asparagus or artichokes? Here to tell us how to pair wine with veggies and salads is Natalie MacLean, the editor of Canada’s largest wine review site at nataliemaclean.com. Welcome Natalie Station 1 Host: Natalie, why are vegetables harder to pair with wine than say […]

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