Pairing Bestselling Books With Best-Cellaring Wines

We’re back with Natalie MacLean. You can watch our first segment on book and bottle pairings here.  This time we’re going outside the wine category of books with these pairings. What do you have for us first? We’re starting with one of my favorite authors, Candace Bushnell, who wrote this book, Is There Still Sex and the City? a fantastic follow-up to her blockbuster hit, TV series, several movies and now a theatrical production.         I’d pair this book with this Rosé sparkling wine from La Marca because it’s just fabulous, as the four women in the […]

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Video: Which Wines for Turkey, Cranberry Sauce and Pumpkin Pie?

CTV’s Your Morning Host Ben Mulroney and chat about which wines to pair with your holiday turkey dinner, from appetizers and the big bird to side dishes and dessert. Happy holidays! Natalie   Start with an aperitif As the heady aroma of the turkey wafts through the house, and sounds of Miracle on 34th Street come from the livingroom, offer family and friends an aperitif. This pre-dinner drink will whet their appetites before they sit down to the table. An excellent choice is a chilled dry sherry. Its nutty flavours go well with spiced nuts, olives, cheese and other pre-dinner […]

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6 Best Spring Wines for Sipping and Drinking (Video)

  Mel As the weather warms up, it’s not just our wardrobes that need a seasonal update, our taste buds crave change too. So cast off those woolly-sweater wines and sip on something light, fresh and new. Here with the wine trends to look out for this spring is Natalie MacLean, who offers Canada’s most popular online wine classes. • Natalie Hello   Lainey We’re starting with a trend that I’m really excited about, Pink Prosecco. Why are they so popular right now? Natalie • Take two already trendy wines—rosé and prosecco—and combine them for a mashup of this season’s […]

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Can You Guess This Wine’s Price? (Video)

On Global Television’s Morning Show, we chat about whether you judge a bottle of wine by its label, or at least, by its price? Does an expensive wine guarantee you a better one? We play a fun game. The hosts taste two wines and try to guess which wine they think is more expensive of the two. I share some details about the two wines as hints ;) Can you guess which wine is pricier before the hosts do? Play the game with us!           Santa Margherita Brut Valdobbiadene Superiore Prosecco Veneto D.O.C.G., Italy Vines are […]

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How to Find Budget-Friendly and Splurge-Worthy Wines? (Video)

On Global’s Morning Show, we chat about how to find budget-friendly and splurge-worthy wines.           Santa Margherita Brut Valdobbiadene Superiore Prosecco Veneto D.O.C.G., Italy                     Henry of Pelham Winery Cuvee Catharine Rosé Brut Niagara Peninsula, Ontario V.Q.A., Canada                 Taittinger Brut Reserve Champagne Champagne A.O.C., France                   Westcott Vineyards Chardonnay Vinemount Ridge, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario V.Q.A.                   Joseph Drouhin Chablis de Vaudon Chablis Burgundy, […]

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Holiday Wine and Food Pairing: CTV Morning Live

  In the video above, Leanne and I chat about holiday wine and food pairings for the Joy to the World Holiday Wine Match. Nominations are still open until Friday, so name your favourite wine and vote daily! The Twitter hashtag is #WHWM. Cheers, Natalie   Posted with permission of CTV Morning Live.       Holiday Wine and Food Pairing: CTV Morning Live Leanne: We are looking at some wonderful wines here and actually all under the price tag of $25, Natalie MacLean is joining us. You’ve had a ton of fun reaching out to your readers. Natalie: Exactly. […]

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9 Best Wines to Pair with Holiday Turkey Dinner (Video)

The holidays are right around the corner. So here with her tips to make your holiday entertaining a breeze is Natalie MacLean who offers Canada’s most popular online wine classes at nataliemaclean.com.   What’s your first tip? Keep it simple. I’m not sure why many of us turn into frantic mini-Martha Stewarts at this time of this year, wanting everything to be perfectly matching, preparing everyone’s side dish, stocking our cellars with more wine than we could possibly drink in a month, but we do. So take a breath, relax and start with bubbly. Sparkling wine is a great aperitif […]

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How to Pair Wine with People on Your Gift List (Video)

‘Tis the season for holiday entertaining and gift giving. What if you’d like to give someone a bottle of wine? How do you know which one to choose? How much do you spend? Here to help us with that is wine expert Natalie MacLean.   Welcome Natalie. So if choosing the right wine is so tricky, why should we give wine as a gift at all? When you give the gift of wine, doubles are fine unlike toaster ovens, there are no wrong sizes unlike that ugly sweater and re-gifting is so much easier compared to fruit cake or a […]

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6 Best Wine Gifts and Gadgets (Video)

A great bottle of wine is an obvious first choice for the wine lover on your gift list this holiday. But what if you want to pair that bottle with a useful and imaginative wine gadget? Here with her tips and sips is Natalie MacLean, who offers Canada’s most popular online wine classes at nataliemaclean.com   Welcome Natalie. What is the first useful gadget you recommend?   Unless you have a wine closed with a screw cap, the most essential gadget is a corkscrew. This is called the Waiter’s Friend Corkscrew.         It’s named that because it’s […]

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9 Sparkling Wines That Make Great Holiday Gifts

On CTV’s Your Morning, we chat about how most people think of sparkling wine as the drink of choice for the holidays. What’s the difference between champagne and other sparkling wines, and the two you recommend?   Although champagne only comes from the Champagne region of France, almost every other region of the country and many other countries around the world produce sparkling wines, often using the same winemaking methods and grapes as champagne.   I have two classic champagnes:           Taittinger Brut Reserve Champagne Champagne A.O.C., France                 […]

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