Is Zinfandel the World’s Most Misunderstood Wine?

July 28, 2016July 28, 2016 Natalie MacLean Leave a comment

ZINZEN, ZINZEST, ZINFUL: The licence plates in the parking lot warn me that this is no tweedy wine tasting. Closer to the wharves, a line of three thousand people, thick as an anaconda, snakes its way along San Francisco’s waterfront. Behind them soars the Golden Gate Bridge; Alcatraz Island sits brooding in the distance; and the glinting bay is dotted with tiny tissue sails. But no one’s admiring the postcard view: all eyes are fixed on the warehouse’s paint-peeled doors, waiting for them to open on the Zinfandel Advocates and Producers tasting, the world’s largest single-varietal wine event according to […]

European Wines in Upcoming Vintages Releases

July 6, 2016August 13, 2022 Natalie MacLean Leave a comment

You’ll find tasting notes and scores for European wines coming out in the next Vintages Releases below. You’ll find all wines here. To find a wine quickly, click on the “CRTL” and “F” buttons on your keyboard, then search by a simple keyword in the open blank that appears. One unique word is often best, for example: Pelham Please note that prices are subject to change and will be updated when the LCBO publishes its final prices for each release. Please let us know if any vintages noted below are incorrect or there are any typos. Cheers, P.S. January reviews […]

Father’s Day Wines: Is There Such a Thing as a Man’s Wine?

June 1, 2016June 2, 2016 Natalie MacLean Leave a comment

Is there such a thing as “man’s wine” versus a woman’s wine”? The question comes up as we approach Father’s Day. Of course, it’s all awash once you’re on to your third glass of pinot or cabernet or chardonnay. This is an interesting piece from a reporter for the Associated Press (AP) with whom I spoke about the “issue” … Cal Dennison likes a nice cold glass of chardonnay. And he’s man enough to admit it. That’s hardly surprising since Dennison is the winemaker at the Modesto-based Redwood Creek winery, but is he an exception? Judging by some marketing campaigns, […]

Blending Family, Tradition and Place: Peter Lehmann Wine Tasting

It is a pleasure to meet any winemaker, especially one who makes a journey across the world to share his wine personally with us. Our group had the pleasure of meeting Ian Hongell from Peter Lehmann wines who led us through a tasting, at Sidedoor restaurant, with their wide range of wines paired with tapas. Jennifer MacDonald Havers Wine Columnist, Ottawa Citizen Peter Lehmann is located in the Barossa region, a small wine region of Australia producing only about 65,000 tonnes of fruit per year. It contains some ancient Shiraz, Cabernet, Grenache and Semillon vines, some are 150 or 160 years […]

The Champagnes of James Bond and Rappers: Bollinger and Cristal

February 17, 2016May 2, 2016 Natalie MacLean Leave a comment

Part 2: Champagne Widows By the 1930s, French winemakers faced even greater challenges: a country about to go to war, a worldwide Depression that made running any business difficult, and U.S. Prohibition, which made selling luxury champagne to the lucrative American market almost impossible. Camille Olry-Roederer This was the forbidding business environment that Camille Olry-Roederer stepped into when she took over the champagne house Louis Roederer after losing her second husband in 1932 (her first husband had died in World War I). Sales were 264,000 bottles that year, compared to 2.3 million bottles in 1876. 1954 1954 […]

Why is Champagne the Wine of New Year’s Eve?

On CBC Ontario’s CBC drive-home shows we chat about bubblies for the New Year’s in the third part of our holiday wine series. We also chatted about this on CBC’s Alberta at Noon as well as The Morning Edition in Saskatchewan and Metro Morning in Toronto. Champagne is the traditional sparkling wine to ring in the new year, but there are other alternatives. Further below are the wines we talked about in the audio clip above. Do you know the answers to these bubbly questions? Why is Champagne the wine of New Year’s Eve? Savvy champagne producers have managed […]

Pop Taittinger Champagne For a Sparkling Holiday

December 30, 2015December 30, 2015 Melissa Pulvermacher Leave a comment

By Melissa Pulvermacher As we near the New Year, it’s a time of celebration, family and good times. This often means that we indulge on fine foods and drink the best of the best. The most popular beverage includes bubbly wine of all kinds. There are so many fantastic options including Italian bubbles, delicious New World sparkling of every style and unique representations from all around the world. Perhaps the most famous bubbly that comes to mind is Champagne — and I don’t just mean the word the entire world has adopted to describe anything cream coloured or sparkling. I […]

A Glass Act: Georg Riedel Shatters My Wine Stemware Illusions

December 4, 2015December 9, 2015 Natalie MacLean Leave a comment

He’s handsome, tanned and trim, with courtly manners and a soft Austrian accent. His eyes, the azure of Alpine skies, gaze into mine over the restaurant table and several glasses of wine. I know that he will change my life forever, bring me years of domestic bliss. We barely touch our food since we’re both quivering with anticipation. But alas, he’s no Captain von Trapp, I’m not Maria and this isn’t really a romantic dinner. It’s a gathering of wine enthusiasts to meet Georg Riedel, who represents the tenth generation of his family to make crystal stemware. The Tyrolean mountains […]

From Snout to Tailfeather: Wine Takes Wing in Niagara

November 21, 2015April 30, 2016 Natalie MacLean Leave a comment

Approaching Featherstone Winery, I can see a pepper storm of starlings flying over the vineyard. Husband and wife team David Johnson and Louise Engel have a passion for all things fowl. Before they became winemakers, they ran a gourmet poultry shop, selling tasty birds, from turkeys to quails. (That’s where the “feather comes from; the “stone” is the Niagara Escarpment.) However, those hungry starlings that feed on the ripening grapes are no friends of David and Louise. That’s why I’m going to meet their latest avian associate today, a Harris Hawk that’s trained to hunt those pesky birds. In 1989, […]

Ruffino Wines: A Taste of Tuscan Life, Sun and Soil

November 5, 2015July 7, 2020 Natalie MacLean Leave a comment

Canada’s top wine writers and sommeliers gathered in the nation’s capital for an extraordinary tasting of Italian wines from Ruffino, a winery nestled in the heart of Tuscany. In the video above, Ruffino Global Brand Beppe d’Andrea shares the story on how, in 1861 Ruffino Ducale Riserva Chianti Classico got its name and how the term ‘Reserva’ came into being. Tania Thomas Wine Expert, Rogers Daytime Television It’s impossible to imagine Tuscan life to be anything but pure bliss. With all the fabulous food and wine, culture, history and art, it’s a place for living la dolce vita. We […]