St. Patrick’s Day is often celebrated with a pint or two, but what if you love wine? On CTV News, we chat about the best pairings for Irish food and classic dishes. Is there a wine that pairs with corned beef and cabbage? This begs the question: Can we skip the corned beef and cabbage and just have wine? My Irish grandmother is probably turning over in her grave. Traditional matches for this meal usually include Irish stout, like Guinness. But what about wine? Corned beef is salty and cabbage can be skunky, so you’ll avoid those wines […]
Italy wine
Pairing Wine with Weird Thanksgiving Turkey Recipes (Video)
You may have some wines in mind for your Thanksgiving roast turkey, but what should you drink with non-traditional recipes, like turducken or deep-fried turkey? That’s what Lindsey and I chat about on CTV’s Your Morning, the country’s national breakfast show. Let’s start with beer can turkey. What is it and which wines should we have with this dish? So for this wonderfully weird recipe, you sit the turkey on a beer can on a grill, which results in a moist meat, and a crispy, satin-brown skin. Of course, you could pair this dish with beer since you cooked with […]
What’s the Right Temperature for Your Wine? (Video)
Part of relaxing at the cottage is often enjoying a glass of wine on the deck or the dock, but which wines, and how do we keep them cool when temperature soars? That’s what we chat about on Global Television’s Morning Show. Let’s start with the sparkling wines you’ve selected for us. Tell us about them. Nothing’s more refreshing than a glass of bubbles in the summer heat. However, when you’re at the cottage, you’re not going to crack open a bottle of Dom Perignon Champagne. You want something affordable and delicious. That’s why I’ve picked Relax bubbly […]
10 Best Zinfandel Wines to Buy Now + 5 Surprising Facts about Zinfandel
In our latest Facebook Live Video chat, we chat about the robust red wine Zinfandel. What makes it different from other red wines? How is it related to the Italian red wine Primitivo? What foods pair best with Zinfandel? What’s the group Zinfandel Advocates and Producers (ZAP) all about, and International Zinfandel Day on November 19? You can click on the arrow above to play the video. Zinfandel is a vitis vinifera red wine grape that produces deep robust wines, most famously from California. You’ll find my most recent Zinfandel reviews and ratings here. Surprising Facts about Zinfandel: 1. Zinfandel’s […]
Bring on the Beaujolais! A Young Red Wine is Centre of Attention each November
Carol Anne and I chat about this year’s beaujolais nouveau in the video above. Catch our second video chat about more easy-drinking red wines for the holidays that aren’t nouveau. The annual release of Beaujolais Nouveau and other nouveau wines happens on the third Thursday of November. According to several liquor store chains, they are one of the fastest-selling products with about 80% selling out during the first week. In the LCBO, there are usually two Ontario nouveau wines (Reif), five French and two Italian nouveau-style (novello) wines released, and a total of more than 10,000 cases sold. The Beaujolais […]
Beyond Barolo and Chianti: Discovering Le Marche Wines
There’s more to Italian culture and wine than Chianti and Barolo. by Rebecca Meir Liebman As Italy’s most famous cities – Rome, Milan, Venice – and her better-known wine regions – Chianti, Brunello, and Barolo become more and more crowded with tourists, it’s time to consider touring her less-buzzy, hidden gems. One of my favourite lesser-known regions is the gorgeous and fascinating Le Marche, with its beautiful Adriatic Sea coastlines, white sand beaches, outstanding produce and restaurants, and of course, its unique wines. Pronounced La Mar-kay, La Marche lies between Emilia-Romagna to the north, Tuscany and Umbria to the west, […]
Make Your Evening Unforgettable With These Curated Wine & Cheese Plates
Leanne and I chat about some marvelous wine and cheese pairing for holiday entertaining and beyond, plus the secrets to creating a cheese that will make your guests’ jaws drop ;) Click on the arrow above to watch the video. We’ll post the wines featured in the segment here soon. So many delicious combinations! You can watch our second CTV segment on wine and cheese pairing here. Plus, we’ve had two dynamic Facebook Live video chats on this topic in preparation for the launch of a new cheese and wine pairing course. You can watch the first video is here on […]
Pairing Wine with Oscar Party Snacks and Movies
On Global’s Morning Show yesterday, we paired wines with Oscar-worthy snacks from Cibo Wine Bar as well as former winners of the Best Picture Award. Here are my Top 20 Oscar Wines showing your which liquor stores have them in stock now … enjoy! Titantic 1997 Moet & Chandon Imperial Brut Grilled whole calamari, mixed greens, diced tomatoes extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice The Sting Wolf Blass The Entertainer AMERICANA Pizza Tomato, mozzarella, pepperoni, mushroom, green peppers The Godfather Gabbiano Chianti CHIANTI BRAISED SHORT RIBS 10oz porcini crusted beef short ribs, gorgonzola polenta, crispy onions […]
Fontanafredda Makes a Barolo for Every Palate
Fontanafredda Vineyard Priya & Alex, A Vine Romance It was a whirlwind visit for Danilo Drocco, winemaker at Fontanafredda in Barolo, Italy. He swept into Toronto for a lunch and dinner, only to rush back to the vineyard the following morning as they are deep into harvest season and as he said, “My job is to talk about Nebbiolo, but more importantly, to make Nebbiolo.” Alex was especially thrilled to have the opportunity to sit down with Danilo as the 1974 Barolo was the first ‘big’ (read “expensive”) bottle of wine he had ever purchased as a gift for his father. […]
Tasting Barolo, the King of Wines with Fontanafredda (Video)
Recently, Canada’s top wine writers and sommeliers gathered in our nation’s capital for a comprehensive tasting of the wines from one of Italy’s best wine producers, Fontanafredda. Here are our impressions and tasting notes. Jennifer MacDonald Havers Wine Columnist, Ottawa Citizen The weather may have been rainy, but spirits were bright on a Sunday afternoon as we had the opportunity to celebrate Barolo and learn of one of the gems of Piedmont, Fontanafredda. Alberto Frea, the brand ambassador for Fontanafredda, walked us through the extensive family history of the winery as well as some of […]
