What began as a home-improvement project has turned into a small business for Rolf and Charlene Thorhauge, who design and build about four cellars a year. When Rolf Thorhauge retired from the RCMP in 1993, he knew exactly what he wanted to do with his new-found freedom: build himself a wine cellar. The keep-busy, home-improvement project soon morphed into a full-time, home-based business for Thorhauge and his wife Charlene. Now in operation for 12 years, the owners of Rolf’s Wine Cellars design and build on average three to four basement cellars a year for customers across the city. “It is […]
Wine Cellar Trends, Options and Designs
Forget meaningless one-night stands. An increasing number of Canadians are having a hot and heavy love affair with wine — a passion that rages on, long after the red roses have wilted and the Valentine chocolates are gone. According to Statistics Canada, “the intake of wine has continued to increase over the last 10 years reaching 13.9 litres (per person) in 2006.” Ottawa wine writer Natalie MacLean says in the last two years alone, wine consumption has increased seven to eight per cent, edging out beer as the alcoholic drink of choice. “Definitely, it’s trending up,” says MacLean, author of […]
Chocolate & Wine 3
Oops, it’s Valentine’s Day and you’ve forgotten to get a booking at your partner’s favourite restaurant, which now has more reservations than a nervous bungee jumper. You are, in common parlance, dead, or you will be if you don’t act fast. You could just take him or her somewhere that doesn’t take bookings, such as Longrain in the city or Cicciolina in St Kilda, or go for oysters and champagne at the bar at Oyster Little Bourke or the Melbourne Wine Room. The danger with this is that your valentine might want to know why you didn’t book somewhere proper […]
Food & Wine 2
Natalie MacLean didn’t start out with a love of wine. Meals with her husband, who enjoyed having a bottle of wine with dinner, are where MacLean first discovered wine. “I always say that I didn’t start drinking until I met my husband,” said MacLean. “And now that I am writing about wine for a living, I don’t have a reason to stop.” Editor of a free wine newsletter at www.nataliemaclean.com, MacLean took her love of wine and turned it into a career. Starting off by writing about wine on the Internet, she was picked up by a local food magazine […]
Chocolate & Wine 2
Think of Valentine’s Day, and what color comes to mind? Not white. Maybe pink. Certainly red. Many will pop the cork on a bottle of bubbly in a romantic gesture. Champagne and other sparklers do, indeed, pair nicely with almost anything. Romance is almost inherent in serving sparkling wine. But, being a contrarian and lover of all wines red, I’m opting for a red Valentine’s Day. Just to bolster my case, I turned to a renowned expert, columnist, accredited sommelier, writer, wine judge, author, raconteur and lovely person, Natalie MacLean (her free Internet newsletter is at www.nataliemaclean.com). We’re both fans […]
Chocolate & Wine 5
Nearly half of Americans are expected to celebrate Valentine’s Day with a special night out. If money is no object and the finest wines are available which vintage should you select? Wine experts reveal what they will be sipping on Feb 14. Richard Brierley, the head of wine sales in the Americas for Christie’s auction house, said he could opt for Champagne. “I don’t want to be predictable and go down that Champagne route, but if I did, it would be Salon 1996. It is just exceptional, alluring, full of verve and there’s so much energy about it,” he said […]
Chocolate & Wine 6
Being a person of the male persuasion, I am sometimes told I don’t “get” chocolate. I’ll admit that I like a rich, complex truffle now and then, but I’m at a loss to understand the near-orgasmic moans some women produce when swallowing such sweet sustenance. I understand that I am not hormonally equipped to enjoy chocolate at all levels, a limitation I accept along with not being able to play the violin, dance the tango or give birth. Given such limitations, I thought this year, in producing my pre-St. Valentine’s Day wine-and-chocolates column, I’d call on several experts who could […]
Economy & Wine
The subprime mortgage crisis may be pushing housing prices down but it could soon have the opposite effect on Chardonnay, Chianti or Shiraz. Concerns about the economy, lower interest rates, rising oil prices and a weak dollar are expected to push the price of wine higher by the end of the year. Jim Galtieri, head of Pasternak Wine Importers, described the combination of economic events as a perfect storm and said we are all wearing foul weather gear. “The dollar is weak and the prognosis is that it is not only going to stay weak, but get weaker when interest […]
Chocolate & Wine
With Valentine’s Day coming, are you wondering which red wine to have with your chocolate? Did you ever wonder which red grape is responsible for the most red wine? Perhaps it’s Cabernet Sauvignon, the major component of most Bordeaux red wines and a mainstay in California vineyards. Wrong. It isn’t Merlot, the major component in the rest of the Bordeaux reds and a darling of California wines. Nor is it Zinfandel. So much for most California reds. How about Pinot Noir, the great red grape of Burgundy and Oregon? Nope. Well then, it must be Shiraz, also called Syrah, grown […]
Beef & Wine
Does boeuf bourguignon have to be made with a wine from its namesake region, Burgundy? It’s traditional, yes, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s no accident that Fiona Beckett, the British food writer, recommends a red from France’s Languedoc or Rhone. She wants a more full-bodied wine in her recipe. Nor does the wine in the pot need to be the same as what’s poured in the glass. Wine can lend a great deal of flavor to cooking, but long cooking destroys a fine wine’s nuances and layers of complexity. “Burgundy isn’t the only wine that pairs with beef […]
