{"id":5670,"date":"2011-12-19T11:25:59","date_gmt":"2011-12-19T11:25:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/?p=5670"},"modified":"2011-12-22T11:32:07","modified_gmt":"2011-12-22T11:32:07","slug":"more-than-five-million-followers-two-books-and-christmas-wine-and-food-memories-the-ottawa-citizen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/more-than-five-million-followers-two-books-and-christmas-wine-and-food-memories-the-ottawa-citizen\/","title":{"rendered":"More than Five Million Followers, Two Books and Christmas Wine and Food Memories – The Ottawa Citizen"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It\u2019s not surprising that many of Natalie MacLean\u2019s holiday memories revolve around drink.\u00a0 The Ottawa sommelier has two books to her name, wine columns with more than five million followers and a shelf-full of awards. She was named the World\u2019s Best Drinks Writer at the World Food Media Awards in Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI beat them to a pulp with my liver,\u201d chuckles MacLean, whose wit makes her a favourite at wine and food shows across the country. \u201cI love what I write about.\u00a0 It\u2019s a great honour to be invited into the kitchens of some of the world\u2019s best winemakers.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to celebrating Christmas with her loved ones, it\u2019s all about the wine and food.<\/p>\n

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

Who cooks Christmas dinner and what does it entail?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are pretty traditional in that we have turkey.\u00a0 I can\u2019t cook; I pull corks.\u00a0 My husband, Andrew, cooks the turkey and I pair the meal with wines. In our home, it\u2019s Ontario Rieslings and Pinot Noir. Juicy wines with ripe, fleshy fruit flavours are ideal for Christmas dinner.<\/p>\n

What is your favourite Christmas memory?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I come from Halifax and my relatives come from Cape Breton. My favourite memory is my grandmother\u2019s homemade biscuits.\u00a0 I can see her kneading the bread and smell the aromas of the baking biscuits coming from her black iron oven. When the biscuits came out, you\u2019d cover them in butter and the steam would escape while you ate them.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t wait to taste them every year.\u00a0 I loved them more than\u00a0 candy canes.<\/p>\n

What does your family do on Christmas Day?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Everyone received a book as a gift so we spend part of the day relaxing and reading, which is a nice quiet period in the day.\u00a0 My mom visits for the holidays to celebrate with us.\u00a0 It\u2019s a family traditioin to have lobster sandwiches with Tiesling at lunch. You can say it\u2019s an East Coast tradition.<\/p>\n

How do you decorate your tree?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well I have to admit I own an artificial tree, as it is less work and the branches unfold perfectly.\u00a0 I\u2019m a co-ordination freak, which is probably why I love vineyards, so I decorate the tree every year in blue and silver.<\/p>\n

What is your favourite holiday treat?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mulled wine.\u00a0 Can you detect a theme here?\u00a0 When my mom arrives, she starts making it.\u00a0 I love the aroma that spreads throughout the house.\u00a0 The smell of cinnamon sticks simmering on the stove is heavenly.\u00a0 It\u2019s the taste of the holidays.<\/p>\n

Natalie MacLean\u2019s Top Five Bargain Holiday Wines<\/strong><\/p>\n

2010 La Puerta Torrontes<\/strong><\/a> Valle De La Puerta S.A., Argentina: You’ll be absolutely blown away at how pretty and tasty this wine is for the price point. Floral with mouth-watering juiciness. Buy three cases for your holiday parties: your friends will think you’re brilliant rather than cheap. Pair with turkey dinner. LCBO#\u00a0 197970\u00a0 $8.95\u00a0 Score: 88\/100.<\/p>\n

2009 The Stump Jump<\/strong><\/a> Lightly Wooded Chardonnay D’arenberg Wines, Mclaren Vale, Australia: I love this style of Chardonnay because it’s refreshing, not heavy yet delivers lots of green apple and Asian pear flavour. Full-bodied and zippy. Pair with corn dishes and seafood.\u00a0 173302\u00a0\u00a0 $13.95\u00a0 Score: 88\/100.<\/p>\n

2008 Weighbridge<\/strong><\/a> Shiraz Peter Lehmann, Australia: Fantastic price for this juicy, mouth-watering, full-bodied, lip-smacking tasty red! Aromas of fleshy dark berries and plums, with a nice smoky finish. Pair with roast beef.\u00a0 219170\u00a0 14.50%\u00a0 Score: 88\/100.<\/p>\n

2009 McWilliams<\/strong><\/a> Shiraz Hanwood Estate, South Eastern Australia: Vibrant juicy plum aromas wrapped in smoky oak. Supple and medium- to full-bodied. Absolutely delicious! Pair with pork chops or lamb.\u00a0 610683\u00a0 $14.95\u00a0 Score: 88\/100.<\/p>\n

2010 Banrock Station<\/strong><\/a> Moscato Ros\u00e9, Australia: A delightful bubbly with fleshy sweet strawberries with a light effervescence. Perfect aperitif for the holidays and to toast the New Year. Pair with oysters or potato chips.\u00a0 170134\u00a0 $10.95\u00a0 Score: 87\/100.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not surprising that many of Natalie MacLean\u2019s holiday memories revolve around drink.\u00a0 The Ottawa sommelier has two books to her name, wine columns with more than five million followers and a shelf-full of awards. She was named the World\u2019s Best Drinks Writer at the World Food Media Awards in Australia. \u201cI beat them to a pulp with my liver,\u201d chuckles MacLean, whose wit makes her a favourite at wine and food shows across the country. \u201cI love what I write about.\u00a0 It\u2019s a great honour to be invited into the kitchens of some of the world\u2019s best winemakers.\u201d When […]<\/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-5670","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\/5670","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=5670"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5685,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5670\/revisions\/5685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}