{"id":5330,"date":"2011-11-19T01:15:19","date_gmt":"2011-11-19T01:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/?p=5330"},"modified":"2011-12-19T01:16:18","modified_gmt":"2011-12-19T01:16:18","slug":"good-wine-doesnt-have-to-be-expensive-real-moms-love-to-eat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/good-wine-doesnt-have-to-be-expensive-real-moms-love-to-eat\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Wine Doesn\u2019t Have to be Expensive – Real Moms Love to Eat"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Around the World in 8 Days: A Wine Guide That Gets It Right<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m no wine snob, but I can appreciate a good glass of\u2026basically whatever my husband might hand to me. He\u2019s even invested in a wine cooler so he can keep bottles stored at the right pressure and temperature. But do either of us know all the right words to use when describing it? Could we hold our own in a room filled with real wine connoisseurs? Not a chance, unless it involved talking with one of my new favorite writers, Natalie MacLean. This gal is a wine pro to be sure\u2014in fact, she was named the World\u2019s Best Drink Writer by the World Food Media Awards and has won four James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards\u2014but she sounds more like your best-friend-meets-adventure-travel-guide-meets-Bridget-Jones than a hoity toity critic.<\/p>\n

In her new book, Unquenchable<\/strong><\/a>: A Tipsy Quest for the World\u2019s Best Bargain Wines (Perigee, November 2011), she journeys to eight countries, visiting 312 wineries and tasting more than 15,000 kinds of wines\u2014all to prove that good wine doesn\u2019t have to be expensive.<\/p>\n

Not only does she achieve that goal, but she does it in a really fun, personable style, which you can get a full sense of in the very first paragraph of the book:<\/p>\n

The question I\u2019m asked most often: \u201cWhat\u2019s your favorite wine?\u201d My answer: \u201cThe one someone else pays for.\u201d The second question I\u2019m asked is, \u201cCan you recommend a great wine that costs less than $5?\u201d Answer: \u201cNot unless all you want is a wet tongue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is that not just the best opening ever? And it just gets better from there, thanks to MacLean\u2019s unique concept: eight main chapters featuring wines from eight regions, organized by day of the week (from Sunday dinner through the weekdays to Sunday lunch).<\/p>\n

In each chapter, she shares some crazy adventure, laugh-out-loud conversation snippets with the winemakers, and of course, vivid tasting notes that\u2019ll make you feel like you\u2019re drinking alongside her. Here\u2019s the itinerary you can look forward to:<\/p>\n

Sunday: After passing kangaroos in Australia\u2019s Barossa Valley, MacLean checks out the region\u2019s shiraz, which she suggests pairing with comfort foods like roast beef or meat-lover\u2019s pizza.<\/p>\n

Monday: Speeding along the autobahn to Germany\u2019s Mosel Valley takes her to the best vineyards for reisling, which pairs well with grilled chicken or fish.<\/p>\n

Tuesday: A chopper ride through Niagara brings MacLean nose to nose with her fave red wine, pinot noir, which she enjoys with entrees like beef bourgignon or mushroom risotto.<\/p>\n

Wednesday: MacLean heads to South Africa (where she takes a side trip to swim with sharks) for sauvignon blanc\u2014the perfect accompaniment to Asian dishes, seafood, and salads.<\/p>\n

Thursday: After marveling at a volcano, she learns about Sicily\u2019s nero d\u2019avola\u2014great with roasted chicken or Italian pasta, natch.
\nFriday: Riding a horse through Argentina\u2019s Mendoza region, MacLean goes for the region\u2019s malbec, perfect with meals like prime rib and barbecue.<\/p>\n

Saturday: After chugging along through a gorge in the Duoro Valley of Portugal, she savors port, a dessert wine you\u2019ll love with things like almond tart and creme caramel.<\/p>\n

Sunday lunch: No wine-loving globe-trotter could forget France\u2019s Provence region, where our fearless taster goes gaga for ros\u00e9, which goes well with regional cheeses like brie and camembert as well as lunch classics like a chicken club sandwich.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a healthy amount of takeaway: each chapter ends with a section called \u201cField Notes from a Wine Cheapskate,\u201d which includes lists of that region\u2019s great wines that won\u2019t break the bank, recipe ideas, and tips on wine shopping.<\/p>\n

All in all, this highly enjoyable read is a sure pick for your wine-loving friends and family this holiday season. Find out more at MacLean\u2019s interactive website<\/strong><\/a>, where you can also get great recipes, a pairing download for your smartphone, and the latest tidbits on inexpensive wines on the market today.<\/p>\n

You can read more reviews of my new wine book<\/a> <\/strong>Unquenchable here.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Around the World in 8 Days: A Wine Guide That Gets It Right I\u2019m no wine snob, but I can appreciate a good glass of\u2026basically whatever my husband might hand to me. He\u2019s even invested in a wine cooler so he can keep bottles stored at the right pressure and temperature. But do either of us know all the right words to use when describing it? Could we hold our own in a room filled with real wine connoisseurs? Not a chance, unless it involved talking with one of my new favorite writers, Natalie MacLean. This gal is a wine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-unquenchable","category-books-wine"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5330"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5550,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5330\/revisions\/5550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}