Here are some quick tips on writing wine reviews and tasting notes. I’ll be adding new tips to this list regularly. Got one to add? Please post it below. You can also find tips on posting your reviews on this site and how to get the most of the site features to organize your reviews. Have fun! Cheers, Natalie What information should be in every tasting note? The smell and taste of the wine are essential: aromas and flavours. This doesn’t have to be elaborate, but it gives people a sense of the style of the wine. The Wine Aroma […]
Wine of the Week: Gloria Ferrer Sparkling, California
Shopping tip: you can get shoes for 85 cents at the bowling alley. With the left-over cash, why not splurge on a bottle of bubbly? Cheers, Natalie Sale Ends: May 26, 2013 Sale Price: $25.95 | Save: $1.00 (Usually $26.95) Natalie’s Score: 90/100 Gloria Ferrer Sparkling Cuvee Toasty and robust with lovely green apple and white peach notes. This sparkling wine is a terrific value, even without the buck off. Enjoy it with potato chips, fried chicken or three strikes at the bowling alley. Drink: 2012-2015 LCBO Code: 200790 Sugar Code: Dry Find this wine in your closest LCBO stores […]
Pan-Seared Halibut Recipe: Eat + Drink Canadian
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has worked with a Canadian chef to create some delicious recipes that can be made with all-Canadian ingredients! Remember to look for the Canadian content or process statement on all the ingredients you buy! Pan-Seared Halibut Preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 15 minutes Serves: 4 Ingredients: 2 tbsp Butter (30 ml) 3 tbsp Canola oil (45 ml) 4 Halibut filets, skin on (2 lbs)(907 g) Salt pinch Pepper pinch 1 Zucchini, cut in cubes 20 Cherry tomatoes, cut in 2 20 Sugar snap peas, cut in 2 1 Green onion, sliced 2 cups Vegetable stock […]
Canadian Provolone and Mango Chutney on a Cracker Recipe
Spice up Your Long Weekend Staycation Sometimes having no plan is the best plan you can have. Why not savour the long weekend by inviting another couple over for a game night. With ample Canadian cheese and wine, it won’t take long before you feel like you’re away at the cottage. Tired of serving the same old snacks? This recipe for Canadian Provolone and Mango Chutney on a Cracker is a great twist on an old classic. The mango chutney gives delicious Canadian Provolone an unexpected punch, bringing out the cheese’s subtle smoky flavour. Take couple’s night to the next […]
Wine Magazine Video: Canadian Food + Wine Contest
In the video below, I chat with Theresa, editor of Great Wine News Magazine, about The Great Canadian Wine Match, now in the last day for nominations for your favourite wines. The competition has been fierce, but so has the fun as wine lovers from coast to coast rally behind their most-loved wines. Get your final nominations and votes in today before we move to the finalist showdown phase!
Ontario Wines Fight for First in Pairing Competition
In our second chat, Leanne and I discuss the economic value that domestic wines have in our economy, the dramatic rise of BC wines and how well Canadian wines pair with a variety of dishes, the focus of The Great Canadian Wine Match. There’s still time to nominate and/or vote for your favourite Canadian wines. It just takes a few clicks and every wine is celebrated on the nomination wall. Leanne also announces the launch of the wine of the week feature that I’ll be doing for CTV News starting on June 1. These will include both Canadian and international […]
Wine Blogger Conference Comes to Canada
In two weeks, the city of Penticton, BC will be flooded with intrepid wine bloggers swarming the area with glasses in one hand and iphones in the other, tweeting and instagraming the Okanagan Valley into Internet fame. In case you haven’t heard of it, the Wine Bloggers Conference is a combination press junket, wine expo, and MacWorld, with shades of Meetup in between. After five years in the States, the Wine Bloggers Conference will finally cross the Canadian border, and Penticton organizers are working in overdrive to make sure the blogger’s impressions are favorable. There is still time to register […]
Canadian Wine Competition Heats Up: CTV News
In the first part of our chat on CTV News, Leanne and I talk about the great groundswell of support that The Great Canadian Wine Match has received across the country, as well as the regional rivalry between east and west coast wines. Get some great wine picks and pairing tips for the Victoria Day weekend … and find out how you can get involved before we move to the finalist showdown phase this Tuesday. Watch part two of our conversation about this Canadian wine competition. Posted with permission of CTV.
Wine of the Week: Cusumano Syrah, Italy
Shopping is the fine art of acquiring things you don’t need with money you don’t have. However, with this bargain bottle, you won’t have to worry about that … for a while. Enjoy, Natalie Sale Ends: May 26, 2013 Sale Price: $9.95 | Save: $1.00 (Usually $10.95) Natalie’s Score: 87/100 Cusumano Syrah Incredible for this price point! Luscious and full-bodied with layers of fleshy-rip dark fruit. Smooth and tasty. Drink: 2011-2013 LCBO Code: 145490 Sugar Code: Extra Dry Find this wine in your closest LCBO stores now. Feel free to share this thrifty wine find on Facebook or on Twitter […]
Grassroots Video for The Great Canadian Wine Match
Love this! Wine Blogger Joe Hache took the initiative to create this video about the 6 Prince Edward County Wines that he’s nominated for The Great Canadian Wine Match. It’s awesome to see the people behind the labels… however, you don’t have to live in wine country, as Joe does, to create a simple video of your favourite wines. Download the free YouTube app on iPhone, Android or Windows and take a quick video clip from your smartphone of your wine(s), or do it from your laptop using your built-in video camera and YouTube recorder button. Either way, just takes […]
