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 Moët & Chandon Brut Imperial Champagne Grilled whole calamari, mixed greens, diced tomatoes extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice             The Sting The Entertainer Red Belnd Americana Pizza Tomato, mozzarella, pepperoni, mushroom, green peppers               The Godfather Castello di Gabbiano Chianti […]

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How to Pair Wine with Chips, Nuts and Snacks?

On Global Television’s Morning Show yesterday, we paired wine and snacks, from fish tacos to Sriracha chips from Loblaws’ President’s Choice Black Label line. Yes, there is a wine for sea salt giant corn nuts ;) . Click the arrow above to play the video.         Wine: Yalumba The Strapper GSM Grenache Shiraz Mataro             Food: PC 85% Cocoa Solids Extra Dark Chocolate Bar (100g): imported extra dark chocolate.     Food: PC 70% Cocoa Solids Dark Chocolate: Irresistibly delectable, imported pure dark chocolate. Excellent for snacking or baking.         […]

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10 Best Pinot Noir Wines to Buy Now + 5 Surprising Facts about Pinot Noir

Leanne and I had fun chatting about Pinot Noir this past Wednesday on CTV News! I’ll be posting the wines we featured soon. Pinot Noir is a wine of great sensuality, a silky texture and seductive aromas. “God made Cabernet Sauvignon whereas the devil made Pinot Noir,” winemaker André Tchelistcheff once remarked. This thin-skinned berry is known as the “heartbreak grape” because it’s difficult to grow and is unstable even bottled. That’s why you often pay more for Pinot Noir than most other red wines.     You’ll find my top 10 Pinot Noir reviews and ratings here,  including pinot […]

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Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir Wines from New Zealand

    Nobilo Icon Pinot Noir 2013 Marlborough, New Zealand A smooth, supple easy-drink red wine. This New Zealand Pinot Noir features notes of wild field berries on the nose and palate. Lovely balance, very food-friendly. Pair with planked salmon. Alcohol: 14% Sweetness: Extra Dry Price: $19.95 Drink: 2013-2018 Product #: 66803     Nobilo Icon Pinot Noir 2012 Marlborough, New Zealand Very juicy, cherry-berry flavours and roundness in this gloriously happy New Zealand Pinot Noir. This medium-bodied red wine with dance with your senses, and your food, from planked salmon to roast chicken. Top me up! Alcohol: 14% Sweetness: […]

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Best LCBO Wine Reviews: Vintages Ratings June 25

  You can access the 115 wines that I reviewed for June 25 as a text wine list with my complete tasting notes, scores, food matches. You can also see my wine reviews for June 11. If you are a Paid Member, you can add my wine picks to your custom shopping list with one click and access that list on your smartphone to find the stock for each wine in your closest LCBO store. These are just some of the benefits of supporting out wine community as a Paid Member. Inventory stock numbers are usually posted online a day […]

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Villa Maria Wine Tasting Reveals Regional Surprises

In the video above, Villa Maria Winemaker Josh Hammond shares an amusing story about his quest to pair ever more fresh scallops with his wines when diving for them with his brother. Click on the arrow to play the video. Canada’s top wine writers and sommeliers gathered in our nation’s capital for an extraordinary tasting of New Zealand’s Villa Maria wines recently at The Shore Club. They share their insights and recommendations here. Cherie Cole Accredited Sommelier & Wine Blogger Gracing us with his knowledge and passion for wine, along with a great sense of humor, fifth generation winemaker, Josh […]

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An Icon of New Zealand Wine: Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir

Canada’s top wine writers and sommeliers gathered in our nation’s capital last Friday to taste world-class New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and Pint Noir. We were privileged to be guided in a personal tasting with Nobilo Wines Chief Winemaker, Dave Edmonds, who was in the country for a couple of days. In the video above, Dave introduces us to his wines as well as the spectacular food pairings for each course of our meal. Click on the arrow to watch the segment. You can also watch more videos of Dave in his vineyards as well as recipes to pair with the […]

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Jane’s Gems: 90 Point Wines in LCBO Vintages August 8

By Jane Staples The LCBO Vintages August 8 Release offers an exciting collection of wines from the Pacific Northwest, namely British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. All three regions have undergone dramatic changes over the past five years, making great stride in both quality and diversity of the wines they produce. Yet the three regions are also vastly different, despite the fact they’re often grouped together geographically in the wine world. Oregon winemaking has its roots in the 1970s, and has since taken the silky, medium-bodied red wine, Pinot Noir, to great heights. Now it also produces a zesty white wine […]

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Jane’s Gems: 90 Point Wines in LCBO Vintages July 25

By Jane Staples The LCBO Vintages Release for July 25 offers a cool breeze to beat the summer heat. The focus is on refreshing, zesty white wines. You’ll find that these sippers are usually also light in alcohol and oak (sometimes completely unoaked) and have racy, mouth-watering acidity. They pair well with summer dishes such as fresh seafood, shellfish and salads. The wine regions that tend to produce these vibrant whites are often cool climates like New Zealand, famous for its Sauvignon Blanc, and Canada, for our Riesling. These regions are more distant from the equator than are warm climate […]

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New LCBO Wines and Limited Time Offer Sale: April 2015

Sponsored Post by Delegat Canada Wine Agency You can get the complete shopping list of these wines in your closest liquor stores here.     Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2014 Marlborough, New Zealand Regular Price: $18.95 Sale Price: $16.95 March 30 to April 26       Oyster Bay Merlot 2013 Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand Vintage Release April 4  In stores while stock lasts     Oyster Bay Pinot Noir 2013 Marlborough, New Zealand Vintage Release April 18 In stores while stock lasts       Barossa Valley Estate Shiraz 2012 Barossa Valley, Australia New Vintage Release April 18 In […]

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